Opening the Psychiatric Hospital and Bringing the City Inside. Contradiction and Reflexivity in a Case of Urban Innovation

The objective of the paper is to explain a case of social innovation in mental health services, moving from a psychiatric hospital, classically a total institution, to a healthier, diversified, and personalized care service. The research was conducted by a participant observation method, on the long run, from 1996 to 2006 in Milan (Italy): more than 25 meeting and 40 semi structured interviews were conducted. It looks at a case of ‘social entrepreneurship’ in Milan which contributes to the transformation of a large, closed psychiatric hospital into a more open and therapeutic environment for mental health services users, as well as for ordinary citizens of the whole metropolitan area. Most of the literature correctly emphasize governance and administrative capability as crucial variable for satisfaction of needs, recognition of capability and sustainability of projects. The paper shows the relevance of exogenous resources, non-local mobilisations, and loosely connected social movement networks to enact communicative spaces and challenge closed and inertial policy communities.