ABSTRACT

The culture of the square drew strength from the relationships of contiguity, and the market became a stage of tragic and joyous spectacle. The regulations regarding conduct and the misuse of the streets and squares in the modern city lead one to think that commercial logic often went hand-in-hand with a lack of space and bustling activity. At times, the official documents, chronicles and site descriptions use the terms 'mixed-use' and 'prosperity' as though they were synonymous, expressing concern that establishing useful boundaries might provoke a diminution of 'disorder' which might be interpreted as a sign of economic decline. The determination of a geographic boundary could be ratified contemporaneously by centuries-old customs, new impositions or the addition of a physical 'sign'. It became necessary to understand how and when the identification of 'signs' and physical borders were superimposed on the establishment or the observance of legal limits, to the point of becoming even more incisive and binding than the latter.