At Politecnico di Milano PHD

1. THE ART OF (POLICY) MAKING
28.3.2017
TOMMASO GOISIS - CITY OF MILAN
UP_CITYING - POLITECNICO DI MILANO

2. TODAY’S AGENDA
1. Introduction
2. ‘Skatepark Gratosoglio’: the relationship between
institutional & non-institutional actors in a project (within a
policy)
3. ‘The Suburbs Plan’: let’s try to structure a real public policy
4. Take-away points
5. Questions (appreciated also during the first 4 parts)

3. 1. INTRODUCTION
WHO I AM
▸ BA in Psychology (Università di Pavia) in Jul 2011
▸ MA in Government and International Organisations (Bocconi University) in July
2013, with a thesis on European Structural Funds expenditure implementation gap
▸ Consultant in EY from Sep to Dec 2013
▸ Staff of the Deputy Mayor for Sport, Green Areas, Leisure and Life Quality in the
Municipality of Milan from Jan 2014 to Jun 2016
▸ Policy Maker and Staff of the Deputy Major for Housing Policies and Public Works
in the Municipality of Milan from Aug 2016
▸ Favourite movie: Forrest Gump; favourite writer: Tiziano Terzani
▸ Travelling, sports, volunteering etc.

4. 1. INTRODUCTION
THE MUNICIPALITY OF MILAN
▸ 15k employees (30k with subsidiaries companies)
▸ When a Mayor is elected (every 5 years, with 48 city
councillors) He appoints 12 Deputy Mayors and ~20 ‘staff
members’. Each Deputy Mayor appoints 1 or 2 staff members.
▸ No spoil system for the 23 top bureaucrats, except for the GM
▸ Impressive ‘path depending’ attitude.
▸ Less than 50 people have to change the daily work of 15k, if
We want (new) policies to be implemented.

5. 1. INTRODUCTION
THE CYCLE OF POLICY MAKING
1. Agenda setting. Identifying problems that require government attention, deciding which issues
deserve the most attention and defining the nature of the problem.
2. Policy formulation. Setting objectives, identifying the cost and estimating the effect of solutions,
choosing from a list of solutions and selecting policy instruments.
3. Legitimation. Ensuring that the chosen policy instruments have support. It can involve one or a
combination of: legislative approval, executive approval, seeking consent through consultation
with interest groups, and referenda.
4. Implementation. Establishing or employing an organisation to take responsibility for
implementation, ensuring that the organisation has the resources (such as staffing, money and
legal authority) to do so, and making sure that policy decisions are carried out as planned.
5. Evaluation. Assessing the extent to which the policy was successful or the policy decision was the
correct one; if it was implemented correctly and, if so, had the desired effect.
6. Policy maintenance, succession or termination. Considering if the policy should be continued,
modified or discontinued.
SOURCE https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/policy-concepts-in-1000-words-the-policy-cycle-and-its-stages/

6. 1. INTRODUCTION
THE ART OF POLICY MAKING
▸ (my) Vision: Policy making as a way to produce effective
and sustainable increase in the life’s qualities of
residents&city users + tending to my inutility in the process.
▸ (my) Mission: make things happen | our office is the city:
go&see first | best is enemy to the good | look for the
snowball effect | to some extent, conflict is necessary.
▸ When policy making, the biggest mistake we could do is
putting ourselves in a condition where no mistakes can be
done.

7. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING

8. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING

9. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING

10. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING 1

11. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING 2

12. EXAMPLES OF POLICY MAKING 3

13. 3. SKATEPARK GRATOSOGLIO
SKATEPARK GRATOSOGLIO
▸ Project included in the ‘Milano Palestra a Cielo Aperto’
policy (Milan as an open air gym)
▸ A 150k€ skatepark (with prefabricated modules) was
planned to be built 1km far from historic ‘skatepark
Gratosoglio’
▸ Then a Facebook post from a non-institutional actor made
this happen (start from the bottom):
https://skateparkgratosoglio.wordpress.com/

14. 3. SKATEPARK GRATOSOGLIO
STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS

15. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
THE SUBURBS PLAN - PREMISES
▸ Strong political commitment: Giuseppe Sala during the
electoral campaign “suburbs will be our obsession”
▸ Clear window of opportunity: Government, President
Boldrini, the media, Pope Francis etc.
▸ Once the elections are won, it’s time to formulate the
policy. But how?

16. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
THE “SUBURBS OF TODAY” DEFINITION
We define an area a ‘suburb’ not by its geographical remoteness from the city center, but
for a number of features, which may be present with different frequency and intensity:
▸ Mono-functionality
▸ Physical degradation of public and / or private spaces;
▸ Lack of connections, in particular with regards to public transport;
▸ Perception of insecurity;
▸ Relevant social issues related to poverty, unemployment, lack of social integration,
demographic imbalances, lack of community ties, school dropout;
▸ Poor offer of services to promote work&life balance

17. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
THE “SUBURBS OF TOMORROW” DEFINITION
The interventions of the Suburbs Plan, have therefore the objective to transform the ‘suburbs of
today’ into spaces and places that will be:
• More beautiful, where the public and private space is not only decent, but also an opportunity to
meet and socialise;
• Happier, where living conditions allow to a positive approach at life, because we think that the
happiness of its members constitute the first objective of those who govern a community
• More lively, where the offer of diversified services (by type, time, etc.) is able to meet the
different needs of its inhabitants and where heterogeneity is synonymous with greater dynamism
and wealth. We think that stimulating aggregation is also the best solution for building security;
• More connected and accessible for all, where it is easy to move within the district, both to reach
other parts of the city, regardless of physical, temporary or permanent, skills and conditions.
• More open to diversity and to the cross-fertilization of cultures. We believe that the cities of the
present and of the future have to tear down walls and build new bridges.
• More supportive, where neighbours represent the first social and proximity network of
individuals and families.

20. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
HOW DO WE GET THERE? THE POLICY PRINCIPLES
▸ SELECTIVITY: IF EVERYTHING IS SUBURBS, NOTHING IS SUBURBS
▸ HARDWARE&SOFTWARE COMBINED
▸ PARTICIPATION AND SOCIAL&ECONOMIC STAKEHOLDERS
ACTIVATION
▸ TRANSPARENCY, MONITORING AND EVALUATING
▸ INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION

21. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
AND NOW WHAT? 4 POLICY ACTIONS
1. STRATEGIC AREAS
2. “SOCIAL” CONSTRUCTION WORKS
3. THE COMMITMENT OF ALL 12 DEPUTY MAYORS
4. THE DECAY’S HOT SPOT

22. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
1. STRATEGIC AREAS
• OPPORTUNITY /
PROBLEM
• HARDWARE&SOFTWARE
• THE “CITY SCHOOL”
€400MLN

23. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
2. “SOCIAL” CONSTRUCTION WORKS
• SMALL/MEDIUM
HARDWARE
INTERVENTIONS
• MAINTAINING THE
ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN
PROMISES
€60MLN

24. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
3. THE COMMITMENT OF ALL 12 DEPUTY MAYORS
• THEMATIC APPROACH
• HARDWARE OR
SOFTWARE
€(WIP)MLN

25. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN
4. THE DECAY’S HOT SPOT
• PRIVATE OR PUBLIC
• MOSTLY HARDWARE
• COLLABORATION WITH
LAW&ORDER
€(WIP)MLN

26. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN

27. 3. THE SUBURBS PLAN

28. TAKE AWAY POINTS
▸ Be a policy and photocopy maker if you want to be an
effective policy maker;
▸ Never underestimate the human factor when analysing the
change drivers;
▸ You can change your content while running, but try never
to betray your method and especially your policy’s
principles;
▸ Have fun and do not fall in love too much with ‘your’ policy.
4. TAKE AWAY POINTS

29. LOOKING
FOR
CHANGE?

31. FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
▸ (that’s your turn)

32. THANK YOU (AND CONTACTS)
TOMMASO.GOISIS@COMUNE.MILANO.IT
TOMMASO.GOISIS@GMAIL.COM
MOB. +39 3491650902