The institutional history of Milan metropolitan area

The institutional history of Milan metropolitan area. Territory, Politics, Governance. This paper highlights the long-term institutional trajectory of the Milan metropolitan area in Italy using comparative-historical analysis. Although technical and political proposals of metropolitan institutions in Milan have been debated over the last 70 years, empirical evidence shows that the Milan metropolitan area still lacks clear rules for political integration and effective spatial tools for policy-making. In order to explain this outcome, the paper adopts a narrow definition of 'path dependency' and tests it in two different processes of institutional change: land-use planning at the metropolitan scale, and the organization of local governments in metropolitan areas. The paper finds that in both processes, initial episodes of institutional change, promoted by reformist coalitions, were co-determined by 'contingent events': unpredictable circumstances exceeding the control of reformers. It also finds that, in both processes, outcomes of subsequent episodes of institutional change were co-determined by 'increasing returns': the reinforcement of previously crystallized configurations of powers and interests. Therefore, the paper reveals the historical events and socio-political dynamics that determined the 'path dependency' of institutional outcomes at the metropolitan scale in Milan. It argues that ongoing metropolitan institutional dynamics can be better explained by the absence of a land-use reform and the persistence of direct election of mayors.