From Industrial to Ludic Town. Some Reflections about Valencia, Palermo and Genoa (1960-2000)

Abstract

Comparative studies are an important tool to understand the pluralistic evolution of urban spaces in the contemporary Europe. In the following paper we present a comparative study of three Mediterranean cities: Genoa, Palermo and Valencia. Although through different historical paths, they all more or less modified their appearances, structures and functions from ‘industrial’ to ‘ludic’ ones. This transformation, common in the transition to a post-industrial economy, has generally been driven by the availment of a great event: the core questions of this work will try to answer when and how Genoa, Palermo and Valencia could use this opportunity to change their image in the XXI century. This analysis of three Mediterranean realities enables us to understand the pluralistic evolution of urban space and the current European city.