The historic city: perceptions and modes of localisation in Florence, Italy. A method of analysis and interpretation

Abstract

Has one of you geographer, sociologist, economist already had between your hands a work which deals with Florence and its inhabitants? If not, you surely have already had the occasion to read works dealing with the cultural treasures and importance of the city throughout history. However, today, there is little interest in this city, paradoxically one of the most famous in the world. The search that is undertaking on Florence aims to study the processes of socio-functional transformations in intra-urban space. One point of this study focuses on the image of the “historic city”. I suggest that the historical cities are subjected to particular dynamics within European cities. The method elaborated to study those dynamics centres on the urban form, the different actors’ perceptions and their city modes of appropriation. This method is reproducible for the study of other “historic cities”.