Self-organisation and retail-led regeneration: A new territorial governance within the Italian context

Retail activities and cities are closely related. The practices of retail-led regeneration can thus bring real benefits to the quality of urban life and play a key role in the construction of self-organised and bottom-up initiatives. It seems essential, therefore, that there be the involvement of all the actors working within various capacities in urban areas and who have a legitimate interest in the construction of integrated and efficient urban policies. For example, the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)—widely used in the U.S. and the UK—are forms of voluntary management for the development of competitive strategies in view of the revitalisation of urban retail authorised by the government but promoted and managed by private operators. On the basis of international experience, Italy has also begun to introduce the idea of new instruments for territorial governance within regional trade legislation. These are promoted by the government and managed by non-state actors for the integrated management of business in view of urban revitalisation. From this perspective, the paper describes the Italian model for the voluntary management of retail activities by outlining the importance of self-organisation and private sectors for the promotion of territories and the real contribution that retail can make to local development and urban regeneration.