Grantorino: Active and dialogue making of the metropolitan city

Abstract

The chapter gives an introduction to the development and testing of an active and dialogue methodology for a participative decision-making process for the development of Turin metropolitan city: GranTorino 2030. The active orientation requires that the metropolis involve the resources from the market and direct them towards the goals. This requires a paradigm shift in plans and policies, from legislation and financial incentives, towards the involvement of private sector and citizens, seeking equilibrium among social, private and personal utilities. GranTorino adopted a dialogue model, that is, “a complex model of interacting processes where the directives coming from the top are informed by the perceptions of problems, possible solutions, and situational constraints coming from below, and where these directives in turn structure perceptions and the search for solutions at the section level” (Mayntz 1976). GranTorino has been structured along five tiers: (1) Define the domain of public participation, (2) empower stakeholders’ knowledge, (3) generate personal foresight, (4) evaluate foresight and (5) map the knowledge. GranTorino, by listening to citizens’ preferences and expectations, has provided to a broad public the opportunity to contribute to the shaping of the metropolitan city, in order to assess what the personal foresights are, and has provided feedback through evaluation and measurement. GranTorino provides evidence that when people are actively involved, they can help to generate a heightened sense of public value.