In continuity with previous editions, this year Confcommercio-Imprese per l’Italia contributes to Urbanpromo by proposing a reflection on the social role of local commerce and public businesses and on the relationship between food culture, city and territory, also in terms of urban regulation.
The health emergency of Covid-19 made clear the importance of the widespread presence of economic activities in the urban fabric, both for the service offered to citizens and for their nature as places of social exchange, but at the same time it underlined the fragility of this widespread economic heritage and the need to safeguard it. For this reason, the debate on urban regeneration, when addressing in an integrated way the wide variety of issues related to the organisation and functioning of cities, must also take into account the central role of neighbourhood services in order to outline policies and actions capable of supporting and strengthening urban economic systems.
In this context, economic activities clearly embody the idea of an extensive network of places and services designed to stay together, even before economic exchange. It is also important to take the opportunity to govern these activities from an urban planning point of view so that they can contribute to the revitalisation of parts of the city and integrate harmoniously with other urban functions. These issues are at the centre of this year’s political and technical debate aimed at investigating the relationship between business, sociality, urban space and regulation. The event is also an opportunity to present the publication Confcommercio, entitled “Economic activities in the post-Covid city. Riflessioni sulla rigenerazione urbana” (Reflections on urban regeneration), which originates from what emerged during the Urbanpromo 2019 conference on innovative regional laws on urban planning and commerce, integrated with in-depth studies, also in a European key, on the post-Covid city and related to urban planning, urban commerce, innovation and tourism.
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