Knowledge-Based Economy and Social Exclusion: Shadow and Light in the Roman Socio-Economic Model PASQUALE DE MURO, SALVATORE MONNI and PASQUALE TRIDICO Abstract The article aims to analyse the evolution and modernization of Rome in the last 30 years. To this end, we focus on both structural and institutional change and try to identify the main ruptures, continuities and driving forces of the new Roman model. After the second world war, Rome was generally considered to be a cumbersome capital city with a heavy bureaucratic sector and without any strong ‘local’political forces and social movements capable of bringing about economic and political change. Nevertheless, a new and more democratic local governance and subregulation mode emerged during the post-Fordist era, which allowed the production and reproduction of new socio-economic relations that in turn influenced a new economic model for the city. This new governance has led to some interesting forms of ‘democratization’ that are difficult to find in other post-Fordist metropolises. However, the Roman model is also characterized — as in other global metropolises — by forms of social exclusion, poverty and polarization between the peripheries and central/high-income districts, in a sort of two-speed development. At the same time, the traditional bureaucracy and its connected ‘state bourgeoisie’, although still relevant, are no longer dominant. New service activities have brought about new agents, new powers and new institutions. ‘Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another.’ Plato, The Republic Introduction Over the last 30 years, Rome has experienced a dramatic change that has involved economic and social actors and political and power relations. A different agency framework has shaped a new path of socio-economic development, and a new local The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received from the EU commission. This article is an empirical result of the DEMOLOGOS (Development Models and Logics of Socio-Economic Organization in Space) project that is a research project funded by the EU within the Sixth Framework Project (contract number: CIT2-CT-2004-505462). We would like to thank Frank Moulaert, coordinator of DEMOLOGOS. We would also like to thank Dr. Luca Lo Bianco and Dr. Fiammetta Curcio, Comune di Roma — Dip.XV — Politiche Economiche e di Sviluppo, for their help, suggestions and comments, and all the people interviewed for this article, especially Professor Pia Toscano. Finally, we are grateful to three IJURR referees for their helpful comments. The usual disclaimer applies. Volume 35.6 November 2011 1212–38 International Journal of Urban and Regional Research DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00993.x © 2010 The Authors. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research © 2010 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published by Blackwell Publishing. 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA