The italian "second level" in search of identity: transformation of the province and the birth of the metropolitan city

In 2014, the Italian government approved an important local government reform, through Law no. 56. Concerning Metropolitan Cities, Provinces, Unions and Amalgamations of Municipalities. The Law suppresses second-tier institutions (provinces) except in the main metropolitan areas, transforms the remaining second-tier institutions into indirectly elected bodies, and redesigns their functions. Here, this innovation is scrutinised. A secondary analysis is combined with an original analysis of the statutes adopted in metropolitan cities, the results of the first indirect election of their presidents, and Italian data from a European comparative survey on second-tier local governments, administered two years before the reform. The reform was designed to control the ‘costs of politics’ and to define a model of governance for metropolitan areas. However, it leaves many crucial problems unsolved, and delegates many decisions on the implementation of the model to the regions. As shown in the analysis, it also provides the opportunity for different reconstructions of political strategies in the ten metropolitan areas. In 2014, the Italian Government approved an important local government reform. The Law suppresses second-tier institutions (provinces) except in the main metropolitan areas, transforms the remaining second-tier institutions into indirectly elected bodies, and redesigns their functions. Here, this innovation is scrutinised.