Sport and public space in contemporary Italian cities: processes of citizenship construction through body-related practices

Abstract

This special issue addresses ongoing transformations in several Italian cities, processes that are urban in nature, imply mobility, density and heterogeneity, and are also increasingly affecting communities that used to be considered 'folk societies'. This is particularly true of a country such as Italy, which is characterised by scattered urbanisation. The city, long a privileged subject of international academic research, is today the subject of an even greater interest from the most diverse social scientists: sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, but also architects, urban planners and urban historians (Cancellieri and Scandurra 2012). It emerges clearly from the growing literature first that the city is not simply a background to social action, but rather the most complex form of human interdependence, namely an environment constituted by specific and structured processes (Hannerz 1980; Sassen 1994; Soja 2007). Second, it shows how certain re-territorialisation phenomena emphasise both the local dimension as a space of identity construction and the fact that, given the basic connection between democracy and the city (Bagnasco and Le Galès 2001), the quality of a democracy also depends on its attitude towards cities (Isin 2002; Mitchell 2003; Massey 2005). Our aim as editors of this special issue was to engage in a debate about the social and political tensions that play a role in the construction of citizenship in public space in Italian cities. As urban scholars, we were motivated by the awareness that 'classic' interpretations of urban tensions, such as the centre-periphery model, are no longer adequate. Segregation and social exclusion in many Italian cities today defy oversimplifying oppositions and it is increasingly difficult even to circumscribe these phenomena just geographically: projects undertaken by famous architects like Renzo Piano, for example, are mere ameliorative operations in our suburbs, but do not take into account the above-mentioned urban tensions, which deserve a more thorough analysis and, consequently, more complex and structured interventions (Piano 2014). While the disintegration of traditional forms of government resulting from these phenomena has exacerbated social inequality, on the other hand it has prompted new forms of appropriation of the city by its inhabitants (Satta 2014a; Satta and Scandurra 2014). Such new experiences and reappropriation practices were the starting point for and the context in which this research project on sport and public space was conceived and developed. Our intention, by choosing to focus on specific places in specific urban environments-gyms and sports fields, but also squares, parks and public spaces-is to investigate the role of sports practices and urban spaces in processes of citizenship construction in Italian cities. Our aim was

Sport, social inclusion and the logic of assimilation in Prato (Italy)

“…Such limitations become apparent when Italy is compared to other Western European countries (Bortoletto and Porrovecchio, 2018;Fonzo, 2019;Russo, 2019). Recent research in the Italian context has also emphasized the complex role that performative bodily practices come to play in contemporary urban spaces (see Satta and Scandurra, 2015). Consistent with the broader development in the international literature, this approach emphasizes how 'structured approaches', including organized clubs and initiatives promoted through public policies and institutions, may limit or hinder the development of more inclusive 'communities of practice' and 'situated learning' through sport (Zoletto, 2015), as well as the development of a sense of civic belonging (Satta, 2015).…”