ESPON : TARGETED ANALYSIS : IMAGINE : Developing a metropolitan-regional imaginary in the Milano-Bologna urban region : Final Report

The Milano-Bologna urban region encompasses the metropolitan cities of Milan and Bologna and the provinces of Piacenza and Pavia, a strategic regional area across two of the most economically developed Regions in Italy. This area experiences important changes in terms of economic development. Actually, the whole area can be seen as a growth corridor inside which traditional economic development processes keep following the logic of agglomeration, but also as a growingly differentiated regional space where unexpected economic processes are investing unusual places and leaving behind or questioning historical patterns of centrality and competitiveness. This functional area, despite being characterized by proximity and continuity is subdivided into two metropolitan cities, two provincial institutions and two Regions. There is no common governance framework able to deal with the challenges generated by the consequences of the above-mentioned socio-spatial and economic changes. Moreover, the absence of a common narrative in policy design and strategies – which can also be called a lack of spatial imaginary - is a serious challenge for territorial cohesion as it risks producing much differentiated patterns of economic development, reinforcing old- or producing new territorial unbalances. ESPON IMAGINE shall develop a common narrative as well as the basis for an integrated territorial strategy within the Milan-Bologna area, addressing most recent economic trends and their territorial impacts. The main outcome should be a concrete list of recommendations and support mechanisms in each stakeholder territory. In the longer term, the objective is to turn informal coordination into more formalized cooperation to establish joint spatial scenarios and policies, eventually delivering an experimental Integrated Territorial Investment proposal.