Role and Meaning of Public Space: Findings From the Margins of Milan

Abstract

This article investigates the meanings of the public space, specifically addressing urban marginalized areas. It explores the issue of inequality in relation to public space and how this is reflected in urban policies. Starting from a theoretical framework based on three heuristic dimensions regarding practices, imaginaries, and norms, the authors will analyze through a multidisciplinary approach—that brings planning and cultural anthropology into dialogue—three cases related to some resignification and re-appropriation dynamics within a neighborhood of social housing located in Milan. The three cases concern: a regeneration project of a road accomplished through an experimental municipal device; a recently renewed square located on the border of the neighborhood; the organization of a public event to clean up waste. The public space of San Siro will emerge as an arena where several social actors and their conflicting interests clash, thus affecting the everyday life of its residents and the possibilities for planning an inclusive city as a whole.