Regional divides, territorial cohesion, and urban inclusion: the role of social services

Antonella Sarlo

Chapter 9 in The Value of Place, 2025, pp 128-141 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter proposes a reflection on the role that social services play in the dynamics of territorial cohesion and social and urban inclusion, including in the light of some suggestions deriving from the recent debate on citizenship gaps (Bianchi & Fraschilla 2020; Martinelli 2019). Recent contributions by Martinelli (2017a, 2019) and by Bianchi and Fraschilla (2020) underline how social services are both a cause of development gaps between regions and a potential device capable of activating virtuous forms of territorial rebalancing and social and urban inclusion. In this chapter, we adopt the concept of ‘universalist social services’ proposed by Martinelli (2017) and focus in particular on the dimension of ‘place’, which – despite being considered crucial in the dynamics of territorial cohesion – often appears neglected, even in advanced welfare systems (Martinelli 2017b). In this contribution, we dwell largely on the Italian case, drawing from field research conducted in the last few years (Martinelli et al. 2019; Barillà et al. 2020; Martinelli & Sarlo 2023) and focusing in particular on path-dependency and path-breaking trajectories and on social innovation processes and practices.

Keywords: Territorial cohesion; Social services; Urban inclusion; Southern Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035347919
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