Garbage can order. A case study on a problematic green public urban area

This paper presents a case study of conflicts among politicians, local residents and civil society organisations about the future of a green open space in the City of Milan (Italy). The city purported to be an exemplar of New Public Administration—the incorporation of commercial business methods and efficiency into the public services, hallmarked by strategic planning and rational decision-making. In practice, it is argued, the organisational model that best fitted the case study was the ‘garbage can model’. Decisions and actions by the public administration were best explained in terms of the definitions of the problem being addressed, and proffered solutions, that floated to the top of the can at a particular propitious time.