Giacomo Vaciago

A radical reform improved the government of towns and cities in Italy at the start of the 1990’s. Mayors were elected by citizens; they appointed their own executives and received «guides and checks» from Councils. That model had nevertheless already started to worsen at the end of the 1990’s. Collusion between politics and administration was returning and town and city councils became increasingly less useful. Further examples of this deterioration in urban governance are seen in the legislation (i.e. its steps forwards and backwards) on local public services and cultural heritage.