Reclaiming Public Space Through Governance Transformation
The Case of Piazze Aperte, Milan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22017874 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Antonella Bruzzese (0000-0001-9785-7606, Politecnico di Milano, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-18 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Planning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-7635 • E-ISSN: 2183-7635 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/up.11032 |
| OpenAlex | W7130459258 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 36 |
This article examines Piazze Aperte—the tactical urbanism programme promoted by the Municipality of Milan—as a policy device that reconfigures how streets can be reclaimed, governed, and collectively used. Drawing on three strands of urban theory—tactical urbanism, temporary uses, and collaborative approaches—the analysis adopts an embedded research perspective to investigate both spatial outcomes and institutional effects. Rather than treating temporary street redesigns as provisional experiments, Piazze Aperte has employed low‐cost and reversible interventions to accelerate implementation, stimulate civic initiative, and establish new forms of cooperation between residents, schools, associations, and municipal offices. The programme has contributed to redefining streets as public social infrastructures, linking spatial transformation with shared stewardship and administrative adaptation. The case of Piazzale Bacone—one of its implementations—shows how tactical measures can generate everyday appropriation, conviviality, and visible change within a short timeframe while also revealing material fragilities, quality weaknesses, maintenance challenges, and uneven territorial coverage. These tensions expose the strategic ambiguity of temporary interventions when long‐term consolidation is not ensured. The article argues that Piazze Aperte provides substantive evidence for ongoing debates on the institutionalisation of experimental planning practices and on the governance of public space as a negotiated commons. From a policy perspective, the programme illustrates the transformative potential of temporary uses and civic collaboration in reshaping urban spaces, supporting liveability, and reforming institutional practice while simultaneously highlighting two key challenges for future development: ensuring the durability of interventions over time and extending their reach to less organised yet equally disadvantaged urban areas
Corporate governance · Disadvantaged · Placemaking · Psychological intervention · Public space · Transformative learning · Urban planning · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Urban Planning and Governance · Urbanization and City Planning
Tactical Urbanism
Public and Private Spaces of the City
Design, When Everybody Designs
Governing the Commons
Contemporary Public Space
From “streets for traffic” to “streets for people”
Principles for public space design, planning to do better
A Systematic Review of Co-Creation and Co-Production
Urban Commons
How Cities Learn
‘Transitory urbanism’ for the creative industries in a top-down regeneration process (Nantes, France)
Urban Questions in the Times of Coronavirus. Responding to the Crisis of Public Space
The role of temporary use in urban (re)development
Collective culture and urban public space
Exploring the catalytic power of temporary urbanism through a binary approach
Rethinking urban transformation
Temporary uses in contemporary spaces. A European project in Rome
Urban Transformation
Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance
La producción del espacio
Le droit à la ville
The Production of Alternative Urban Spaces
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |