The image(s) of contemporary Bologna: Histories, Identities and Media

In the contemporary society, the use of media and new media is one of the main tools not only to shape and spread the image of a city, but also to understand its identity (or identities) and track its main transformations. In the historical cities, the kaleidoscope of contemporary images have to confront the past, in which traditions and urban shapes have consolidated over the centuries. Among middle size Italian historical cities, Bologna is a particularly interesting case study, because of its capacity in relating modern changes to historical heritage. One of its distinctive features across the centuries deals with the presence of the University, which is among the oldest and most prestigious worldwide and whose faculties are distributed all over the historical center: Bologna has always been a city animated – and sometimes even shook up – by the presence of students of the Alma Mater Studiorum since Medieval times. Beyond the presence of the University, the image of the city has traditionally been related since 18th century to its hospitality and to the abundance and variety of its food. In the most recent decades, Bologna has assumed new identities without denying these traditions, turning in the 2010s into an attractive touristic destination. This paper will identify and analyze, among the many faces Bologna had shown in its recent history, three of its most significant “identities”: the Medieval City (Bologna between 19th and 20th century); the Rebel City (Bologna in the postwar era); the City of Tourism (contemporary Bologna). Starting from the recognition of these “three Bolognas”, the paper will focus also on the media through which these identities were expressed and on which role the relationship between innovation and preservation, present and past, has played – and is going to play – in the history of the city.