Social innovation in Southern European cities: local governance and citizen practices – Spanish cities as an illustration

Abstract

What do the socially innovative experiences that focus on social exclusion dynamics in Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Zaragoza and in Athens, Naples, Lisbon and other Southern European cities have in common? And what are the peculiarities of social innovation in each city? To what extent do the emergence and development of social innovation that touches on citizens’ aspiration to be participants of society fit within the local governance model? The literature on social innovation in cities around the world shows how rich and diverse are the concrete innovative experiences in cities (Moulaert et al., 2013; BEPA, 2014; Howaldt et al., 2013, 2019). Part of this wide literature also shows that each city has a specific governance model that supports or inhibits social innovation and that may be conditioned by the multi-level governance framework in which local institutions operate (Moulaert et al., 2013; Oosterlynck et al., 2013; Eizaguirre et al., 2012; Kazepov, 2010). This book claims that the experiences of social innovation in Southern European cities – whether carried out by citizens, civil society associations or social movements with or without the support of institutions – have both unique and common traits. To start with, there are the common characteristics of their national welfare systems that have developed over time into particular local welfare constructions in which social innovation springs up. To consider social innovation in cities with regard to path-dependent mechanisms of welfare distribution implies acknowledging important aspects of social reality that can best be comprehended as a process (Pierson, 2000, 264). Second, cities have a history of civil society organizations, particularly the non-profit sector