Turin

Urban poverty

Co-City - The collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarisation (Closed)

Co-City is an extraordinary occasion to support new forms of active participation of the citizens towards the regeneration of the city. I hope that new enterprises will be created around this new model of relation between public and private sector, generating new employment opportunities and jobs in Turin”  

Chiara Appendino, Mayor of Turin
The project in numbers
7%
of the city population living in absolute poverty
13%
unemployment rate in Turin
6,5%
of about 1600 buildings owned by the City abandoned or underused
EUR 4,125,891.44
Total ERDF budget granted
Challenges addressed

The regeneration of deprived neighborhoods located in different areas of the city is the main challenge of the Co-City. Between 2008 and 2013 the amount of residents living in absolute poverty raised to 7% of the total population, while 14% of residents live under relative poverty line. The unemployment rate is 13% and is rising more than in other Italian cities.
A wide range of actions were put in place by the Municipality to contrast social exclusion but the reduction of funds available for social services made harder to respond to the higher demand of welfare services. While Turin managed to effectively support the creation of social enterprises, fostering the creation of one of the most vibrant urban contexts for innovative entrepreneurship, entire parts of the city felt to be excluded by these forms of urban innovation: this sentiment led to a growing lack of trust towards local institutions and within the local community.
Social exclusion is also clearly linked to the decline of many public spaces in the urban context. One of the most visible signs of urban decline is the high amount of abandoned buildings, most of them heritage of the city’s industrial past. 6,5% of about 1600 buildings owned by the city are unused or underused, even if most of them has a strong potential as possible drivers of urban regeneration and residents participation in many deprived areas of the city. 

Solution proposed

The transformation of abandoned structures and vacant land in hubs of residents participation in order to foster the community spirit as well as the creation of social enterprises will contribute to reduce urban poverty in different areas of the city. The implementation of the Regulation on the urban commons will be driven in Turin by the implementation of “pacts of collaboration” between residents or associations and local authority based in most of the cases on the reuse of abandoned urban spaces and structures.
The creation of new forms of commons-based urban welfare will promote social mixing and the cohesion of local community, making residents actor of the urban change while the local authority will act as facilitator of innovation process already ongoing in the urban context.
The use of innovative ICT platforms, such as the urban social network First Life developed by the University of Turin, and the active collaboration of the network of the Houses of the Neighborhoods (Case del Quartiere) will contribute to combine virtual and physical dimension, involving different types of public in the centre as well as in the suburbs of the city in this wide action of urban regeneration against poverty and social exclusion.

Partnership
  • Comune di Torino
  • Università degli Studi di Torino - University
  • Fondazione Cascina Roccafranca - NGO
  • ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani - National Association Urban Authorities
Expected results

The regeneration of abandoned or underused spaces in different areas of the city will contribute to create new jobs in the social economy sector through the creation of new enterprises emerged along the process of residents participation initiated and facilitated by the city of Turin together with the network of the Houses of the Neighborhoods.
The definition and the implementation of several pacts of collaboration will improve the participation of residents in different parts of the city, fostering the commitment of the citizens towards a more inclusive and cohesive city. 

Main milestones

March 2017: Launch event, opening of Local contact points in different neighborhoods, launch of the city call for the participation and engagement of citizens, launch of the georeferenced online platform for the project (https://cocity.firstlife.org)

December 2017: identification of the abandoned or underused spaces to be focused by the collaborative regeneration process

December 2018: Starting of the investment for the regeneration of the areas identified by the project

February 2019:  Signature and starting of pacts of collaboration

February 2020: Conclusion of investments and project closure event

The project in numbers
7%
of the city population living in absolute poverty
13%
unemployment rate in Turin
6,5%
of about 1600 buildings owned by the City abandoned or underused
EUR 4,125,891.44
Total ERDF budget granted
Contact of the project
Giovanni Ferrero
Project manager
Christian Iaione
UIA expert

Project news & events

Cover

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Zoom in 3

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UIA Expert Christian Iaione gives an update on the progress of 6 Co-City's pacts of collaborations and analyses how they played a role in enablin...
Via Cumiana structure. Source: site visit on February 13, 2020)

Co-City - The collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarization - ZOOM IN 2

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The regeneration of an iconic building usually looks as an ambitious challenge for the neighbourhood where the structure is located and for its reside...
Turin CO-CIty Pacts of collaboration

Co-City, first Pacts of Collaboration signed in Turin

The City of Turin officially signed the first two Pacts of Collaboration proposed by groups of NGOs and residents, in the framework of the Co-City pro...
Turin 3rd journal

CO-CITY's third project journal

By addressing social exclusion and urban poverty, through public-private-community partnerships and innovative procurement, the Turin Co-City project ...
Co-City

Co-City and the stories of civic participation in Turin: A collaborative storytelling on Medium to follow the implementation of the actions

Most of the 60 proposals of collaboration admitted to the co-design phase in the framework of the Co-City project are currently being refined by the C...
Co-CITY zoom in

CO-CITY Zoom-In: Legal tool for citizen–municipal collaboration created to fight urban poverty

UIA Expert Christian Iaione describes the progress made on the Pacts of Collaboration. ...
CO-CITY journal 2

Pacts of collaboration and innovation of public procurement at local level: Co-CITY's 2nd journal

UIA Expert Christian Iaione has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Turi...
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The City of Turin approves the Collaboration proposals sent by residents: co-design phase starts

54 Collaboration proposals were approved by the City Government of Turin and accessed the co-design phase that will lead to the implementation of the ...
Co CITY journal 1

CO-CITY journal 1: hear from the project's UIA expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Turin is doing in this UIA Expert journal!...

Huge success in the first Call for Collaboration Proposals launched by Co-City

The City of Turin received almost 50 Collaboration proposals - as a result of the first Call launched in the framework of the Co-City project....
CO-CITY UIA project Turin

On the project's side - Interview of the CO-CITY project

The UIA Secretariat organised a series of interviews with the projects selected under the topic "Urban Poverty". What is the most innovative...

Co-City on tour to present its call for collaboration between residents and local authorities

Despite the heavy rain forecasted, around 70 people convened in Cascina Roccafranca, the House of Neighbourhood located in the heart of the Mirafiori ...
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31 March – Launch event of Co-City in Turin: Italian and European cities sharing vision on commons and participation of residents

On 31 March, the City of Turin and ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (National Association of Italian Municipalities) organised the offici...

Media

Basketball court of Corso Taranto

Cumiana Cantarella
Dagiau Cantarella
Negarville Cantarella
Residents meeting

Residents meeting

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