Knowledge-based economy and social exclusion: shadow and light in the Roman socioeconomic model,

"The article aims to analyse the evolution and modernization of Rome in the last 30 years. . To this end, we focus on both structural and institutional change and try to identify the . main ruptures, continuities and driving forces of the new Roman model. After the second . world war, Rome was generally considered to be a cumbersome capital city with a heavy . bureaucratic sector and without any strong ‘local’ political forces and social movements . capable of bringing about economic and political change. Nevertheless, a new and more . democratic local governance and subregulation mode emerged during the post-Fordist . era, which allowed the production and reproduction of new socio-economic relations . that in turn influenced a new economic model for the city. This new governance has led . to some interesting forms of ‘democratization’ that are difficult to find in other . post-Fordist metropolises. However, the Roman model is also characterized — as in . other global metropolises — by forms of social exclusion, poverty and polarization . between the peripheries and central\\\\\\\/high-income districts, in a sort of two-speed . development. At the same time, the traditional bureaucracy and its connected ‘state . bourgeoisie’, although still relevant, are no longer dominant. New service activities have . brought about new agents, new powers and new institutions. . \\""