The paper investigates the territorialization process with a twofold aim: to focus on the territory as the medium of the current relation between citizenship and governance; and to analyse the problems and opportunities created by governance and territorialization. After outlining an interpretative frame for territorialization in Europe, the paper concentrates on the Italian case and on two policy instruments: Area Social Plans and Neighbourhood Contracts. Light will be shed on how moves towards innovations intertwine with dynamics of fragmentation, thereby creating the complexity of territorialization in Italy.