Urban green governance and mechanisms of generation of ecosystem services: Milan’s green governance models

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the governance of the green spaces in the metropolitan area of Milan, aiming to understand the political mechanisms that underpin the generation of ecosystem services in the urban context. Based on semi-structured interviews to relevant policymakers and stakeholders and on the study of planning documents and greening policies, the research identifies the main actors who are involved in green planning and management in the city and in the metropolitan area. By analysing their green management and planning roles, economic resources and greening visions and priorities, the study depicts five coexisting green governance models. In particular, the research highlights the decreasing influence of public institutions in green planning and management and the rising relevance of private-public collaborations. These dynamics of green governance may affect the generation and the distribution of ecosystem services. On the one hand, greening in private-led regeneration processes tend toward recreational and final ecosystem services, aiming to raise land values. On the other hand, the civic projects of afforestation have evolved in territorial initiatives that go beyond the mere objective of implementing new green spaces, looking at broader planning themes – i.e. soft mobility and social welfare – demanding a stronger metropolitan coordination.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban green spaces
• governance
• ecosystem services
• political ecology
• urban regeneration
• Milan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Informed consent statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

In accordance with the Italian and European legislation, the research was exempt from approval of the Institutional Ethical Committee. (https://www.unimib.it/ateneo/organizzazione/organi/comitato-etico)

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2023.2277972

Notes

1. See Pasqui (2019) or Moini et al., (2019) for detailed analyses on the governance of urban regeneration processes in Milan.

2. See, for instance the last Metropolitan Plan on heat waves and nature-based solutions (Città Metropolitana di Milano 2020) and the project Life Metro Adapt (http://www.lifemetroadapt.eu/it/) [last retrieved: 30/01/2022]

3. The final budget for ordinary and extraordinary maintenance in all the parks that are managed by the municipality is around € 1 per m² (per year), which, as one of the municipal green sector supervisors claimed, it’s a rather low budget. « We keep a level of expenses which is rather low in relation to the quality of the green spaces, that we would like to have much improved. » [I1]

4. See https://bam.milano.it/en/ [Last retrieved 30/04/2023]

5. Parco Nord is officially a regional park, and therefore an institutional actor. However, considering the peculiar story of the afforestation and of the park, it could also be considered as the collective effort of associations and grassroots organisations.

6. The information on Parco Nord and Boscoincittà are retrieved from the interviews. Further documentation may be find on the websites: https://parconord.milano.it/ and https://www.boscoincitta.it/ [last retrieved on 03/01/2023], or on Parco Nord Statute (https://parconord.milano.it/come-funziona-il-parco/lente-parco/lo-statuto/) [last retrieved on 03/01/2023], or on Boscoincittà publications https://www.boscoincitta.it/pubblicazioni/

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Oscar Luigi Azzimonti

Oscar Luigi Azzimonti is an urban and environmental sociologist. He has worked on several issues concerning the connections between human societies and the environment, such as environmental risk and social vulnerability, urban green space and ecosystem services, urban environmental governance, sustainable mobility, and walkability. He is currently working as postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology of the University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy).