2010 Urban change : The prospect of transformation

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Turin reloaded: The new, many souls of a city
(AESOP, 2010) Cotella, Giancarlo
The rapid transformations of the global economic scenario caused by the crisis of fordism and, in more recent times, by the effects of globalisation, open new challenges and opportunities for urban areas. In recent years, cities have been embedded within a highly competitive environment, and this contributed to shifting the focus of urban policies towards different, more entrepreneurial approaches (Mayer, 1994). Main urban actors increasingly share the belief that cities should position themselves (politically, economically, culturally) into the globalised scenario, through urban marketing operations and the promotion of an alluring ‘image’ to attract new investments and favour the (re-) location of economic activities. In general, the term ‘image of the city’ refers to the idea that surrounds and characterises a specific place (Vanolo, 2008, 2010). This is not only linked to visual elements, but also to material artefact (roads, monuments and buildings), as well as to immaterial symbolic aspects (such as the uses, routines, institutions and organisations that regulate the life of the inhabitants, the stereotypes concerning their attitudes, the descriptions in tourist guides etc.). Together these elements represents what could be commonly intended as the ‘soul’ of a place.