“Dopo” lo sviluppo locale: ricostruendo tracce e prospettive di una stagione di intervento

The paper argues that the decline of the paradigm – and of the policies derived from it – of local development in Italy, far from being irreversible, is rather left in a state of unresolved tension. The reasons for this decline depend mainly on two questions: the first relates to the difficulties of the Italian economy in the last twenty years; the second relates to the re-emerging historical development gap between the northern and southern regions of Italy. It is symptomatic, however, that while in the internal political debate the attention dedicated to this subject is decreasing, the relevance placed on local development in the European Planning and in the Structural Fund 2007-2013 has remained as central as it was before. Moreover, many signs make it clear that this paradigm is present in the public discourse and in the scientific interest. The conclusion reached in the paper is that in the near future the relationship between macro and micro or policies will change issuing in a new model of governance, in which both central and local institutions will be called to play a crucial role in the processes of development