Contractual Community in the Self-Organising City. Freedom, Creativity, Subsidiarity

In our cities, both “land-use regulation” and “territorial collective services” have traditionally been guaranteed through the efforts of public administrations. In more recent times, greater space has been taken by different forms of private land-use regulation and collective service provision, that is, by “contractual communities”. These contractual communities are territory-based organisational forms (prevalently – but not only – residential ones) by which members join on the basis of a contract unanimously accepted, and in light of the benefits it will guarantee them. The contract establishes a set of commitments (e.g., rules of cohabitation) and rights (e.g., the availability of a package of services) for the members. The literature on contractual communities (particularly on that specific form of contractual community that is represented by homeowners associations) so far consists largely of profoundly critical writings that raise numerous concerns about the phenomenon. Some other writers, on the contrary, have taken a wholly positive, acritical approach toward contractual communities. In this book a middle path is explored, one that aims to take a serious look at the phenomenon of contractual communities, and avoids taking an overly alarmist view while steering clear of equally unwarranted apologies. In the case of contractual communities there are both problems and opportunities. There is a genuine need for honest questioning and realistic responses. In this perspective the book propose a revised idea of the state role (and of the law role) that permits ample leeway for all possible forms of contractual community. The idea is that cases in which coercive action by a public agency was deemed indispensable have been unjustly overstated; whereas the potential of voluntary self-organising processes has been seriously understated.