What Happens to the Urban Periphery? The Political Tensions of Postindustrial Redevelopment in Milan

This paper investigates the change of the urban periphery, exploring the tension between the socioeconomic, financial, and political implications of postindustrial transitions. It presents and elaborates an analytical framework to conceptualize the interlocked influence of different dimensions of urban development in smaller municipalities, considering in particular how political and electoral dynamics impinge on other aspects of land development. In the article, three types of challenges are thus identified. The paper adopts an explorative approach to detect how political and electoral logics of action affect urban development in the changing periphery. It thus advances that under conditions of metropolitan fragmentation, urban projects are prone to lengthy gridlocks of localistic bargaining, and local governments are unable to fully govern the fundamental challenges of land development.