Mapping Urban Social Investment: A Composite Indicators Approach for the Municipalities of Milan

This paper investigates the territorial patterns of social investment within the province of Milan by developing a composite indicator grounded in the stock-flow-buffer framework. Drawing on municipal-level data from the A Misura di Comune database, the analysis evaluates 133 municipalities over the period 2018-2020 through the Adjusted Mazziotta-Pareto Index. The results reveal a persistent north-south divide, with higher social investment performance concentrated in the wealthier northern and western municipalities and lower scores prevailing in the southern periphery. While the stock and buffer dimensions remain relatively stable over time, the flow dimension shows greater volatility, reflecting the uneven capacity of local labour markets to sustain inclusive employment. The city of Milan exhibits a distinctive profile, combining high education and welfare capacity with fragmented labour dynamics. Overall, the findings highlight the structural nature of spatial inequalities in social investment and underscore the importance of multilevel governance and fiscal coordination in reinforcing the capacity of lagging municipalities. The study contributes to the territorialisation of the social investment paradigm by linking welfare performance to local institutional and socioeconomic conditions.