Abstract

The city of Turin looks like an urban regime, characterised by three growth policy agendas. The first agenda addresses urban sprawl; the second concerns the construction of an information society based on advanced technology and innovation; the third involves entertainment polity and the development of artistic and cultural heritage. In the agendabuilding and implementation process public organisations have functioned not only as coordinators and facilitators but also as pilots. The governing group managing this programme is a public-private élite, professionally heterogeneous but structurally cohesive and culturally unified by core policy beliefs inspired by an ideology of competitive development. The role of party politicians in this elite is declining, whereas both managers in both the business and non-profit sectors and a new kind of notables appear to have become more prominent.