Towards new geographies of cohesion in a context of growing inequalities: insights from two social innovation projects in Milan metropolitan area

This contribution critically examines the possible interface between territorial cohesion and social innovation by investigating how two local social innovation initiatives in the Milan metropolitan area have tried to tackle existing territorial inequalities. The paper draws on the outcomes of the Horizon 2020 Project ‘COHSMO―Inequality, Urbanization and Territorial Cohesion: developing the European social model of economic growth and democratic capacity’ (2017–2021) and places emphasis on the ways in which social innovation can emerge in the public sector and be sustained by public action in connection with civil society to solve problems of socio-spatial inequalities in distressed urban neighborhoods. Findings show that social innovation in the two cases has been interpreted as a trigger for empowering socially vulnerable inhabitants and reconnecting them with existing welfare services. This has happened through a filter mechanism that allowed to create a soft space where institutional and third-sector actors could approach vulnerable individuals in informal settings, answer to their emerging social needs, and promote empowerment processes. The analysis highlighted a relationship of complementarity between social innovation and the welfare system due to the capacity of socially innovative actions to fill some gaps present in existing welfare spaces or in the market.