'The City Decides!' Political Standstill and Social Movements in Post-Industrial Naples

Almost inevitably, large urban transformations stir diverging and conflicting views, interests and imaginations of the city. This chapter looks at a large project of post-industrial renewal in Bagnoli (Naples, Italy), where several movements coalized with the city government against the national government. Based on a proposed definition of emancipation, the chapter finds that, while the former successfully formulated and communicated their demands, their limited power impaired their ability to have these implemented. The chapter concludes with a plea for allowing grievances, be they expressed in institutionalized settings or elsewhere, to be absorbed in planning measures.