Nuove forme del commercio e dei servizi nei contesti urbani

The paper analyses the new forms assumed by retail and services in urban areas. The interpretative-key of business-scape in the central parts of the city - based on central location, proximity and concentration - is integrated with an explanation focusing on the selection of spaces based on image and consumption. Special attention is also paid to the role that the social dimension and the cultural identity of places exert on the servicescape. The latter, meanwhile, is also analyzed with respect to its function of mediator based on context, underlying the importance of aesthetics, design, atmosphere and, above all, its interrelation with consumptionscape. The role played by services is then explored not only in relation to the city-centers, but also to the edge of the central areas and to the intermediate centers of the urban regions, in order to understand the new urban geography of multi-polarized services.