ABSTRACT
The twentieth century has come to a close and we are left with an emblematic image of the end-of-the-century “city” which is difficult to connect with the one that opened this historic period in terms of continuity and development. The oldest parts have, of course, been conserved and almost always mark an identity, which has been maintained not only over the last hundred years but in some cases over the centuries. Without a doubt, some urban structures, such as the ports, are still recognizable, both because they have not shifted from their original positions and because they have maintained the profile and shape of places that are easily identified. Moreover, many pieces of infrastructure, such as certain roads or railway stations with their masses of rails, are still in place and highlight the lines of access to large urban conurbations, forming a sort of “framework” of the territory, often a leftover from the late nineteenth century.
