Urban Regeneration and Civic Economics: a bottom up approach in Boston and Naples

Although the seeds of a communitarian oriented thinking date back to the 19th century, it was in the 1980s that a group of political philosophers started to challenge systematically the individualist liberalism prevailing at that time. The initiative called The Responsive Community stemmed in the 1990s from this emerging movement, focusing on the balance between individual and public good and on the best way to build a "good society", that is, by overcoming the strict dichotomy between state and market. This novel approach led to the launch of a more community- oriented approach also in urban policies, embedded in different urban management instruments. Based on this premise, the research deals with the community based initiatives for urban regeneration in the US and EU, in order to highlight the proactive role played by communities in contributing to local development through enhancing social activation, place branding, preservation of traditional and identitarian places and activities. An in-depth empirical survey conducted in two case studies located in Naples and Boston supports the discussion.