ABSTRACT
This essay presents some reflections on notions – such as governance and networks – currently widespread in urban and regional research. The first reason for reflecting upon them is that we cannot take the meaning and viability of these notions for granted. Reference to governance and networks has gained such diffusion – even in the specific domain of urban and regional studies – as to become almost commonsensical, while raising increasing skepticism about their usefulness and consistency. As in even more inflated cases – such as globalization – the role played by intellectual fashion and academic emulation in their fortune is apparent. Similarly, there is increasing awareness of the potential for political manipulation behind the diffusion of fashionable (pseudo-)concepts. Moreover, little critical attention has been devoted in urban and regional research to their viability as means for inquiry. Despite being backed by long-established traditions in the social sciences, and despite the proliferation of related research programs, reference to governance and networking still lacks sufficient theoretical and methodological awareness. This is evident, for instance, in the case of their application in a comparative perspective. All too often, the aim of comparison is reproduced in current research practice without reflection. This is true in an analytical sense, but is the more striking as territorial research becomes increasingly instrumental to framing public policy discourse – for instance, through the provision of insights on good practices.
