ABSTRACT
Città sicure is a project of social intervention on crime and other sources of lack of public safety, created in 1994 by the regional government of Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region that has traditionally been characterised for its progressive political and social orientation (Putnam 1993). In our view, this project – in which the two authors of this chapter have both been in some ways involved – is best characterised as being situated at the intersection of two axes or dimensions. On the one hand, the project developed, and was in part also a response to, the emergence of ‘crime’ in Italy as a major feature of public discourse. On the other, it unfolded within a deep turmoil in the structure of the Italian political landscape, marked by the demand of local powers (especially regions and cities) to play a much more decisive role vis-à-vis the central government. 2 As we will see, we claim that these two aspects are deeply related, because the level at which the issue of crime emerged was the day-to-day level of local life, much better known and manageable by localities than by the central state.
