What is it about?
This article critically revisits the ideal of subsidiarity. As will be demonstrated, this ideal will be decisive only if understood in a truly innovative sense; that is, placing the emphasis (i) (not solely on vertical subsidiarity but, also) on horizontal subsidiarity, and not interpreting the latter (ii) only from a perspective of solidarity, or (iii) only as a services issue, or (iv) only as a form of action agreed and coordinated with public authorities.
Featured Image
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
Why is it important?
The discussion on “territorial governance” has gained traction in the last decade. The issue of territorial governance is particularly important because it invites us to revisit certain traditional ideas concerning institutions, their tasks, and the scale and level of intervention. In this regard, a crucial concept is that of “subsidiarity”.
Perspectives
When discussing territorial governance the ideal of subsidiarity can prove decisive. However, this will only happen if subsidiarity is understood in a more radical sense. Otherwise, also the idea of subsidiarity, weakened and straitjacketed, will become yet another tool for maintaining the status quo – that is, what in many national, regional and urban contexts seems to have happened until now.
prof. Stefano Moroni
Politecnico di Milano
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Revisiting subsidiarity: Not only administrative decentralization but also multidimensional polycentrism, Cities, December 2024, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2024.105463.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
