Utility e servizi pubblici locali. Scenari di cambiamento e loro ruolo nello sviluppo territoriale, di Alberto Bramanti e Francesco Silva

Utilities and Local Public Services: Evolutionary Prospects and Roles in Territorial Development

ABSTRACT

Public utilities (PUs) play a central role in the economies of industrialized countries. They supply essential services for production and consumption activities, and they produce and help spread technological innovation.
However, do PUs contribute to the growth of local economic systems?
Moreover, under which conditions can they be proactive within their territorial markets?
The paper starts by defining PUs and clarifying their role in the Italian economy as well as their evolution over the last four decades from both technological and organizational points of view. It also addresses changes in the public policies addressing PUs. Specifically, the paper focuses on local public services (LPSs), and on the relation between LPSs and local development. In this regard, three main trends are discussed. The first is related to the shapes of urban organization (i.e., “smart cities”). The second deals with emerging environmental awareness (i.e., the “green economy”). The third is connected to the trend toward active aging with its explosion in new needs and new (urban) services.
At the intersection of these trends, new business opportunities are arising for PUs. Two specific sectors are analysed – waste treatment and local public transport. In particular, we look at the survival conditions for many small PU providers, which are under pressure from strong competition in the market and the need to radically change their strategies, possibly inventing a new role for themselves as local coordinators of multiple services that are devoted to citizen users and territories.

ALBERTO BRAMANTI è Professore Associato di Economia Applicata presso il Dipartimento “Analisi delle politiche e Management pubblico” (PAM) e Responsabile dell’area Economia Regionale e New Economy del CERTeT (Centro di Economia Regionale, Trasporti e Turismo)dell’Università Bocconi di Milano

FRANCESCO SILVA è stato Professore Ordinario di Economia Applicata presso il Dipartimento
di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Università Milano Bicocca e presidente di Econometica (the Interuniversity Centre for Economic Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility).
francesco.silva@unimib.it