This paper aims to shed light on the complex relationship between the Cold War policies including the European Recovery Program (ERP), known as Marshall Plan, and urban public space. Its main objective is to provide a precise and deep understanding of how the Marshall plan politics, contributed to the formation of national identity in Greece and Italy. Particular emphasis is placed on how the post-war formation of national identity in Greece and Italy was related to collective and public spaces. The paper focuses on two key players regarding the connection between the politics of the Marshall Plan and agendas for urban planning and urban public spaces: the Greek town planner Constantinos A. Doxiadis and the Italian industrialist Adriano Olivetti. It is developed around the following four axes: firstly, it focuses on the examination of Doxiadis and Olivetti’s respective understanding of democracy and urban public spaces; secondly, it presents their respective reconstruction models; thirdly, it analyses their respective stance vis-à-vis centralized and decentralized models of governing; finally, it examines their respective involvement in the European Recovery Program (ERP).