Social vulnerability
The current economic and social processes are rapidly transforming the social question. In crisis are the main pillars around which the so-called “European model” is built: a strong employment stability, generosity of welfare programs, the persistence of strong family ties. These changes determine the spread of a wide social vulnerability that affects the middle class, which is threatened less by a reduction in living standards than by a persistent phase of social and economic instability. more…
Local welfare
The effort to strengthen social cohesion and lower social inequalities is among the main policy challenges of Europe. These great challenges become visible and tangible at the urban level, which makes cities a microcosm of society. It means that local welfare systems are at the forefront of the struggle to address this challenge – and […]
Milano sociale
Since two decades profound chances occur in the metropolitan area of Milan. The city is living significant contrasts: a competitive cluster in the global network, as well as a place where living is more and more difficult. Transformations are so relevant that they are disorienting citizens, politicians and experts. In the past, the city has shown a great […]
Competitiveness and social cohesion
In recent decades many European urban areas are characterized by conflicting trends. Faced with new challenges posed by globalization and economic restructuring, some cities have faced major difficulties in maintaining their competitiveness, while others have gained new positions by taking advantage of some specific aspects of their social and economic environment. Looking at these facts […]
Social sustainability
The well-known paradigm of sustainable development was conceived at the beginning as the achieving a balance between the ecologic, economic and social dimension of development, through a process of equitable redistribution of resources in an intra and post-generational perspective. However, in recent times, the paradigm of the green economy seems to have gradually “colonized” the […]
Long Term Care
Faced with the problems associated with an ageing society, many European countries have adopted innovative policies to achieve a better balance between the need to expand social care and the imperative to curb public spending. Although embedded within peculiar national traditions, these new policies share some characteristics: (a) a tendency to combine monetary transfers to […]