Italian Cityscapes: Culture and Urban Change in Italy from the 1950s to the Present

The essays here examine the transformation of the Italian city from the 1950s to the present with particular attention to questions of identity, migration and changes in urban culture. They focus on two phases of that transformation: the years of accelerated industrialisation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the period of de-industrialisation and postmodernity beginning in the 1980s. The book shows how major demographic movements and cultural shifts threw into relief new conceptions of the city in which old boundaries had become problematic. Design, fine art, literature, youth culture, film and social history all provide focal points. The contributions bring specialist expertise to each area while the extensive illustrations give a vivid picture of the contemporary visual culture for which Italian cities are famed.