ABSTRACT
In my own city, Venice, on top of the Doge’s Palace, a statue of Justice holding a sword and a balance looks at the statue of Fortune, standing on top of the Punta della Dogana (the former customs house), holding a sail, symbol of shifting volatile fortunes. The legitimate power of the city and market uncertainty stand confronted, and the former keeps control over the latter. This has been for centuries the foundation of the local urban contract. Yet contemporary globalization processes call for a global dimension of the urban contract today.
