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1. Introduction
The collective volume “Administración compartida y bienes comunes desde el Derecho Administrativo y la Gobernanza”, published by Tirant lo Blanch in 2024 and edited by Vicenç Aguado i Cudolà, Alina del Carmen Nettel Barrera, Vera Parisio, and Xavier Torrens i Llambrich, represents a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on renewing the relationship between public administration and citizenship.
Resulting from international and multidisciplinary collaboration, the volume aligns with research on horizontal subsidiarity, the valorisation of commons, and participatory governance, addressing these issues through a comparative and pluralistic lens that intertwines legal experiences from Italy, Spain, and Latin America.
The publication stands out for its ambitious and well-structured approach. Divided into five sections and composed of twenty-three chapters, the book gathers contributions from academics and legal practitioners belonging to diverse legal systems and cultural traditions.
The richness of the experiences analysed and the emphasis on dialogue between theory and administrative practice give the book notable depth, making it valuable both for public law scholars and professionals involved in the implementation of sustainable and inclusive urban policies.
2. Introductory Section and Analytical Framework
The volume opens with an introductory section that conceptually frames the notion of “shared administration” (amministrazione condivisa in Italian and administración compartida in Spanish), understood not merely as a public participation technique but as an alternative paradigm to the classic State–market dichotomy.
Professor Vicenç Aguado i Cudolà provides a dense and well-argued theoretical reconstruction of the evolving relationship between the State, civil society, and the third sector, highlighting how the concept of shared administration transcends the passive role of the “administered” to promote the figure of the active citizen involved in the management of common goods.
Among the introductory chapters is also the contribution by Professor Joaquín Tornos Mas, offering a clear and comprehensive analysis of the legal framework for citizen participation in local administration in Spain.
Equally central is the contribution by Professor Gregorio Arena, Chair of Administrative Law at the University of Trento and founder of the Labsus research group. His professional and academic career makes him a key figure in the diffusion of collaboration pacts and similar experiences in Italian legal doctrine and public administration. In his chapter, Professor Arena traces the development of his theory from the early 1990s to the most recent local implementations, emphasizing the role of municipal regulations as legal tools for administrative democratization.
3. Comparative and International Perspective
The work devotes ample space to comparative analysis of different governance models. This comparative lens acts as a common thread across chapters, though some focus specifically on inter-system differences and international legal developments.
For example, Dr. Francesco Emanuele Grisostolo proposes a useful classification of different approaches to horizontal subsidiarity across Europe, distinguishing between formalized models (like Italy’s), legally neutral but open models (such as Spain’s), and more fluid models typical of Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. This categorization offers valuable insights for exploring how the Italian model might be adapted to the Spanish institutional context—and, by extension, to other continental administrative law systems.
From both comparative and international standpoints, Professor Héctor Silveira Gorski’s chapter also stands out. It aims to crystallize a terminological and conceptual definition of commons based on contemporary international law and the UN 2030 Agenda.
The volume also includes analyses of legal experiences from Mexico (chapters 6, 8, and 20), Colombia (chapter 4), Peru, and Argentina (chapter 6), overcoming the Eurocentric perspective typical of continental legal scholarship and offering innovative models adaptable to diverse institutional and cultural contexts.
4. Urban and Environmental Dimensions: Commons and Lands
For readers particularly interested in urban planning law and territorial administration, the volume proves especially valuable. The chapters on urban commons, public spaces, water, and participatory planning provide an updated overview of how the paradigm of co-administration is gradually reshaping the management of both urban centres and rural areas.
Professor Vera Parisio, in her chapter, examines river contracts as instruments for co-management of watersheds, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of a flexible legal tool still in search of systematic grounding.
Professor Gabriele Bottino, on the other hand, provides a precise critique of the fragmented regulation governing historic centres in Italy, advocating for greater integration among national, regional, and municipal legislation.
Professor Verónica Yazmín García Morales tackles the issue of the right to the city and urban security from an innovative angle, linking the inclusiveness of public space to its characterization as an urban commons. She convincingly shows how active participation and co-administration policies can have a positive impact even on traditionally “closed” matters like public order and security.
Also noteworthy is Dr. Maria Francesca De Tullio’s critical analysis of the relationship between urban commons and European funds under the Next Generation EU program, with a focus on the city of Naples. The essay invites readers to reflect on the tension between de facto privatization of public spaces and experiments in emerging civic use, which challenge traditional legal interpretations of property and collective use.
5. Final Remarks
One of the key merits of the volume is its multidisciplinary approach: combining administrative law, constitutional law, political science, public economics, and governance theory, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the issues discussed.
From a legal standpoint, the work effectively bridges high-level theoretical reflection with practical references to current legislation (especially in Italy and Spain, but also in non-European jurisdictions), without neglecting the implications for local authorities. The text also pays due attention to the limits of shared administration, with precise references to sectoral legislation such as Spain’s Ley 40/2015 or Italy’s regulations on public domain assets and public-private partnerships.
In the author’s view, the greatest strength of the work lies in minimizing the risk of overlooking what have recently been called “unexpected asymmetries”—cases where the same legal category is defined, interpreted, or practiced differently across legal systems. The plurality of voices and systems analysed allows readers to overcome the challenge posed by the considerable terminological heterogeneity in the expanding literature on this subject and facilitates a better understanding of how terms such as “common good,” “public property”, “civic good”, and “collective good” are used in different contexts.
In conclusion, “Administración compartida y bienes comunes desde el Derecho Administrativo y la Gobernanza” stands out as an essential work for anyone engaging with territorial administration and sustainable urban policy, particularly through a comparative lens.
The book not only captures a transitional phase in public administration models but also actively contributes to the construction of a shared legal and political lexicon—vital for addressing the challenges of social cohesion, sustainability, and democratic participation in territorial governance.
The work can serve as a theoretical reference for public law scholars, an inspiration for local administrators, and a stimulus for national lawmakers—at a time when returning decision-making power to communities is not only an ethical choice but also a viable path to fairer and more efficient management of collective goods.
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