Retail as an instrument for the revitalization of city center: considerations from two Italian medium-sized cities

Albeit late with respect to the rest of the country, recent retail spatial dynamics have deeply changed the established urban and commercial hierarchies in Southern Italy and, particularly, in Naples metropolitan area, assigning greater significance to medium-size cities. The use of retail as a vehicle for the revitalization and the renewal of the town centre, through TCM-like schemes, is analysed in two medium-sized cities of Campania region (Caserta and Benevento), aiming at highlighting the complex relationship between traditional and new forms of retails and between central and peripheral urban spaces. The paper also examines the critical issues encountered in adapting revitalisation policies models to the heterogeneity of local contexts