Urban Free Zones: Economic Recovery and Territorial Development through Tax-Free Zones and a strategic application of Territorial Marketing.

This doctoral thesis presents a study on Urban Free Zones (UFZs), a type of tax-free area aimed at business. Established in France and Italy, UFZs aim to facilitate economic recovery in degraded urban areas by attracting enterprises through tax exemptions. Previous research has focused on all French UFZs, while studies on the Italian context remain limited to a regional scope. Therefore, this research aims to provide a detailed understanding of all Urban Free Zones established in Italy and, considering the initiative of the city of Sassari to implement a UFZ, to demonstrate how a new UFZ can be established and promoted to attract new businesses. This thesis, structured in four chapters, each corresponding to a different article, employs a systematic review of legal frameworks to investigate Italian and French Urban Free Zones. A content analysis of marketing and place branding literature was conducted to build the theoretical framework for studying territorial promotion and communication tools for UFZs. A socioeconomic analysis was carried out to examine the potential establishment of the UFZ of Sassari, integrated with a survey addressed to active enterprises in Sardinia to explore their investment intentions in the area. The research is supported by cartographic representations, developed using ArcGIS Pro software. This research provides a detailed description of all UFZs implemented in Italy and proposes a new classification of Italian UFZs. It also presents new strategies for promoting UFZs. The integration of marketing and branding elements into UFZs emerges as an innovative approach to these tax-free areas. Finally, it outlines the procedure for establishing a UFZ in Sassari and the strategies for territorial promotion of the tax-free area. Therefore, this thesis contributes to the academic literature and offers practical implications.