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In the last twenty years the study of alternative food networks (AFNs) gained growing attention insomuch as some scholars argue that it is appropriate to reflect critically on the results of these body of literature and consider what is needed for the focus and directions of future research. A first problematic feature in AFN research is a tendency to bifurcate agri-food systems into two antagonistic type, namely “alternative” and “conventional” food systems. In order to go beyond this problem this paper considers AFNs as an innovation emerging in our agri-food systems. The empirical analysis will be applied to all agricultural businesses in the Italian territory as they emerge from the last Census of Agriculture (2010). This work was possible due to the availability of the Agriculture Census micro-data (2010). In particular we know which farms sell their products directly to consumers both in the farm and outside. Using a spatial analysis we will be able to evaluate which context characteristics foster the evolution of farmers direct sale. In particular we are interested in evaluating the role of urban areas in the transition towards a short food supply chain.

In the contemporary city, access to urban opportunities requires the possession, by the social actor, of more resources useful to manage the de-synchronization of social times. The capacity to be mobile and to access urban opportunities is hindered by the necessity to perform less predictable, multidirectional and 24/7 mobilities. In particular, the process of colonization of time, which brings to the progressive extension of working activities in the night, generates a potential risk of temporal disadvantage for those working and moving at night, and especially for women. Data from the Italian Labour Force Survey by Istat show how, between 2005 and 2015, female night-workers increased by 18% versus a decrease of 8% of male night-workers (which are anyway the majority). Furthermore, research show how women are more and more interested in night-time leisure activities. The lower sense of safety experienced by women during night-time transfers emerges as a crucial factor in limiting their social participation and in shaping forms of spatio-temporal inequality. The paper, through the elaboration and analysis of data collected during a survey in the city of Milan, which was answered by about 100 women, aims at understanding the features of women’s night-time mobility, focusing on the activities performed, the modal choices and the perception of safety.

Milan is experiencing a period of intense urban renewal affecting nightlife as never before. In this transformation process changes occur both in central and peripheral areas, due to a notable proliferation of events, diffusion of social media and new technologies for mobility in a general framework of festivalization and dayfication of the night. This paper aims to investigate the ongoing co-evolution of the Milanese neighborhoods, their nightlife and some related issues such as: noise thresholds, public safety, modification of rhythms and spaces that also produce a conflict between daily and night inhabitants. Finally, the analysis includes a case study on an innovative accommodation solution (Ostello Bello) which, thanks to its 24/7 services and frequent events, allows meetings between tourists and city dwellers.

Lighting has become an important tool for cities as they compete to market their territories. The evolution of lighting strategies responds to a progressive change in the way professionals engage with the design aspect of nocturnal urban spaces. But, what are the main objectives behind these new approaches and interventions? How do stakeholders consider night-time and how do their representations structure the urban landscape? In order to better understand the organization of the city at night, this paper will explore the representations of landscapes from a sociocultural perspective. Using the example of Montreal, Canada, a city that is particularly representative of trends in scripting the urban experience, this research discloses a process of adding value to central spaces while neglecting ordinary landscapes. In this regard, this study reveals the tensions between illuminated and dark spaces, contributing to a better understanding of the relationship that Western society has with darkness while also unveiling the spatial hierarchy between the different areas of the city.

The paper explores the role of night ambassadors in policy-making and their interaction with local authorities in the governance of the night-time economy. The study proposes an analytical framework based on Zurich as a case study, where policy measures have been adopted to address the conflict situation in Langstrasse nightlife district. In Zurich, the night ambassadors, the Bar and Club Commission and the Night City Council, as policy-making actors, share with the City Administration resources to create strategic alliances and intervene through informal and formal practices of governance and introduce a change in public policies. The City Administration coordinates horizontal governance arrangements with the new actors and all stakeholders, engaging them in the innovative institutional architecture: the Nachtleben [Nightlife] project. Furthermore, inclusive strategies transform night-time conflicts into negotiated agreements and acceptable solutions through a participatory process. The findings extend the literature on night-time economic planning and management through empirical evidence and are of value for night ambassadors and local authorities looking to improve the governance of night-time economy.

Nowadays, the increasing demand on tourism has produced a “reruralisation ludique” (Claval 1996, 260) of villages far from traditional holiday resorts. To this purpose, local public actors must firmly drive this process in order to be successful. Nonetheless, the purpose is often difficult to be achieved especially in those places where the milieu is disjointed and fragile. Fortunately, World Wide Web associations such as “Borghi Autentici d’Italia” (www.borghiautenticiditalia.it), composed of 250 small towns, is leading to the creation of “digital” images which appear to be able to initiate shared and successful sustainable development strategies. The current paper aims at confirming the strengths of the “Sistema delle Comunità Ospitali dei Monti Dauni” project (promoted by “Borghi Autentici d’Italia”), using qualitative analysis of its new web site.

The paper analyses territorialization practices in Mourouj 2 district (Tunis) by focusing on Mourouj 2 Neighborhood Association’ activities during last decades. The case raises relevant issues regarding theoretical reflection on centre-margin paradigm in urban spaces and particularly in the Great Tunis area such as: margin social construction; resistance practices to spatial exclusion processes; conflicts over re-production of economic, political and social disadvantage; environmental and life quality link with spatial justice. In Mourouj 2 district key actors’ practices emerges as a common ground for community dialogue and conflicts with institutions and other informal powers over the right to the city. A nucleus of active citizenship emerges as a national precedent for urban space re-appropriation, from closure and conversion of Great Tunis landfill into an urban park in the nineties to wetlands and urban parks protection, community services and local development activities.

Embedded in the social morphologies of the spaces it involves, migration is a political phenomenon as it redefines public space and its use, labour market and social stratification; it multiplies political issues and requires answers to new social questions, new civil rights, or better civil rights for new people. Geopolitics of migrations is an approach to human post-modern mobility aimed at considering migration as a transcalar geopolitical process: it occurs and flows linked to political, economic and social imbalances at global, regional and local scales. This kind of geopolitics becomes more visible in the world border spaces, i.e. those places crossed by relevant flows of people, goods and assets, and where circulation and mobility need to be ruled by politics or sometimes challenge even politics itself. The present paper proposes some reflections on Istanbul as a border city in the Mediterranean basin.

In Ontological Tools for Geographic Representation, Casati, Smith and Varzi have formalized and introduced the geo-ontological distinction between classical and non-classical geographies. Although that distinction makes no essential reference to maps, the authors have pointed out that the dichotomy can be useful to specify the kind of geography that is implied in spatial representation. the aim of this paper is to showcase the main assumptions behind the distinction between classical and non-classical geography and to present some possible issues arising from its application to cartographic representation. Accordingly, the first two sections offer a short introduction to the scopes of the ontology of geography and to the main theoretical tools needed for advancing a (formal) theory of spatial representation. The third section shows some issues emerging from the application of the distinction between classical and non-classical geographies to the cartographic representation. Finally, the fourth section connects such issues to the lack of a shared notion of geographical entity and exhibits a (virtuous/vicious) indeterminacy about which notion is most fundamental between cartographic representation and geographical entity.