La città e i consumi. Consumi e trasformazioni urbane a Bologna tra anni '50 e '70

The first chapter of this work deals with the actions carried on by local Administrators and a governmental board, the Chamber of Commerce, in order to understand the real characteristics of the local situation from an economic and social point of view and evaluate the perception and meaning of consumption and of urban areas involved. The most original aspect pointed out by the Administrators (eminent scholars such as Ardigo', Zangheri and Bellettini) is the great cultural and political homogeneity of the social scene. Despite the massive immigration, proportionally second most important only after Milan, but mainly coming from the same province or, at most, from the region and with similar social and development experience. Starting from this homogeneity (second chapter) the Boards of Bologna tried to manage the town transformation and the increase of consumption s, which sometimes seemed to be distorted and excessive. Working on the big crisis of 1963-1965 and 1873-1977, local administrators tried to obtain their legitimization grounded on consumption, aware of the new trend arriving, but deeply concerned to limit the breaking effects on the local fabric and to address the gaining efforts of “Bolognesi” by a governance fed by city planning. Delays, common claims, law and burocratic obstacles made this way really hard and not linear up to the '80s, when the trend changed. The third chapter visualizes the map of the expansion of commercial areas during the most important boom phases, by using GIS.