LOCAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES AS MEGA-PROJECTS: MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE 2000-06 CSF INTEGRATED TERRITORIAL PROJECTS IN THE CAMPANIA REGION

Abstract

The Integrated Territorial Projects (ITPs) were a specific and contextualized policy instrument for the promotion of local economic and social development introduced in Italy since late 2000. This instrument deliberately tried to stimulate the active participation of local authorities and organizations representing local interests in the design and implementation of local development projects, identifying strategies tailored to the needs of specific territories (Mantino, 2002; Moccia and Sepe, 2003). As scholars point out “[…] the ITPs generally diverged from the prevailing international approach to local development, with the explicit decision to restrict the role of private-sector partners, choosing instead to strengthen the role of municipal governments (Bianchi and Casavola, 2009, p. 80). The constitutional reform occurred in Italy in 2001 that ransferred several relevant administrative competences to the Regions, or jointly to the State and the Regions, had established a new favorable framework, shifting many policy making issues and decisions to the local level.