Knowledge-based economy and social exclusion: shadows and lights in the roman socio-economic model

The paper analyses the changed development path of the metropolitan area of Rome. It aims to analyse the evolution and modernization of Rome in the last thirty years and to examine whether or not the consequent cultural regeneration promotes social cohesion. To this end we focus on both structural and institutional change in Rome, trying to identify the main ruptures and continuities in the development path, as well as the driving forces of the new model. After WWII, Rome was generally considered to be a cumbersome capital city, with a heavy bureaucracy sector and without any strong “local” political forces and social movements capable of bringing about economic and political change. Nevertheless, a new and more democratic local governance and subregulation mode have emerged during the post-Fordist era, which have allowed for the production and reproduction of new socioeconomic relations that in turn influenced a new economic model for the city. This new governance is an important leading theme; it brings about some interesting forms of “democratisation” that are difficult to find in other post-Fordist metropolises. The new economic model is characterised, on the one hand, by the development of the advanced tertiary sector, i.e., knowledge intensive services, tourism services, business services, cultural industries, R&D activities. On the other hand, the Roman model is also characterised – in line with other national and global metropolises – by forms of social exclusion, a new poor, and polarisation between the peripheries and central/high income districts, in a sort of multi-speed development. At the same time, the traditional bureaucracy and its connected “state bourgeoisie”, although still relevant, are no longer dominant. New service activities have brought about new agents, new powers and new institutions. In addition to a review of the literature and an analysis of existing statistics, interviews were undertaken with informed political leaders and economic and social actors of the emblematic moments of change in order to capture the driving forces of the new development path.