New Alliances with the Environment in the Governance of the Metropolitan Naples

In metropolitan Naples, environmental issues have been recently integrated into urban planning by experimenting with multilevel governance and encouraging cross sectoral interactions. First responses to climate change, and the promotion of environmental education have offered the opportunity to unblock the stalemate of territorial government, both at the municipal and the metropolitan level. We argue that institutional investments in education and symbolic aspects related to the environment can contrast urban fragilities, respond¬ing to dysfunctions of the administrative apparatus, and to economic instability. Urban public spaces, dramatically critical due to climate change impacts, offer an enabling context for triggering integrated regeneration actions, where the role of the University and research can be crucial.