ABSTRACT
The theme of the historic city seems more and more popular: in urban policies, in economic programs, in disciplinary thought. It all started with the historic centre; and this chapter discusses historical landscapes and intangible assets. It promotes a widening of the perspective on the city and makes some suggestions based on a reflection of the results and shortcomings of earlier research. Nonetheless, urban history and urban studies seem sometimes to be strangers, since history is characterized by a defining attitude while a pragmatic or experimental approach is what better defines urban studies. There is a gap between the urban history approach and the approach adopted in urban analyses of the contemporary city. There are indeed some issues relative to the adequacy rather than the completeness of the kind of investigation adopted so far in the urban history discourse.
