Abandonment as a Social Fact

This book provides a multidisciplinary approach for the study of the abandonment problem at the inter-section among urban studies, neo-institutionalist perspectives, and social ontology. An analytical framework (based on descriptive and operational issues, factors, reasons, policies) has been built to interpret the phenomenon of abandonment and possible ways of intervening.

The work considers the Italian situation in general terms and examines the case study of Milan in depth. This case is interesting because it triggered public discussions on the problem of abandonment in a non-shrinking context. Moreover, recently, specific policies to cope with abandonment problem have been introduced.

The purpose of the book is to show that the problem of the abandonment of urban buildings should be understood as a social fact and not as a brute fact. Thus, in this work the abandoned state of buildings is considered as not directly related to certain physical variables; rather, it entirely depends on human evaluations. Crucial information in this regard is how institutional frameworks (e.g. sets of rules of conduct) influence individual behaviour and actions through time. In this view, we may identify abandonment as a phenomenon intertwined with the actions of both private and public entities. The neo-institutional approach helps to highlight how the problem of abandonment is articulated with respect to property rights, formal constraints, reasons behind policy decisions, intervention strategies and implementations.

Includes original and updated estimations of abandonment phenomena at multiple levels (i.e., Italy and Milan) Provides operative taxonomies for policy interventions Consists of original mappings, images, pictures that can be used to improve current and future research

Autorentext
Anita De Franco has a PhD in Urban Planning, Design and Policy . She is a teaching assistant at the Polytechnic University of Milan and a member of the executive team of Normactivity: research network on human and non-human normativity . Her main research activity is revisiting urban studies and policies in light of a neo-institutional perspective.

Klappentext

This book provides a multidisciplinary approach for the study of the abandonment problem at the inter-section among urban studies, neo-institutionalist perspectives, and social ontology. An analytical framework (based on descriptive and operational issues, factors, reasons, policies) has been built to interpret the phenomenon of abandonment and possible ways of intervening. The work considers the Italian situation in general terms and examines the case study of Milan in depth. This case is interesting because it triggered public discussions on the problem of abandonment in a non-shrinking context. Moreover, recently, specific policies to cope with abandonment problem have been introduced. The purpose of the book is to show that the problem of the abandonment of urban buildings should be understood as a social fact and not as a brute fact. Thus, in this work the abandoned state of buildings is considered as not directly related to certain physical variables; rather, it entirely depends on human evaluations. Crucial information in this regard is how institutional frameworks (e.g. sets of rules of conduct) influence individual behaviour and actions through time. In this view, we may identify abandonment as a phenomenon intertwined with the actions of both private and public entities. The neo-institutional approach helps to highlight how the problem of abandonment is articulated with respect to property rights, formal constraints, reasons behind policy decisions, intervention strategies and implementations.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Framework.- Chapter 3. Case study.- Chapter 4. Discussion.- Chapter 5. Conclusions.- Appendices.