Nature prepares the site, but it is man who creates the organism

The analysis of the geographical conditions of the site and of the main events of the birth and evolution of the urban settlement allows to identify the fundamental elements of the urban structure and morphology of the historic city. The overcrossing of the city walls threshold and the succession of planning tools that determine the open extra moenia urban expansion allow to qualify and understand the transition to the contemporary condition. Starting from these premises, which are based on the reference to fundamental works such as Pierre Lavedan's Géographie des Villes (1959) and the urban analysis essay dedicated to the city of Padua (Aymonino et al 1970), but also on the work of the author on the ‘planning history’ of cities (Orioli 2008; 2017; Orioli & Massari 2020), this contribution develops a survey on the city of Bologna. The identification of the fundamental elements of the urban structure and of the overlaying of the different planning tools, related in particular to the former Navile Market, proposes an approach that offers essential reference points for mapping and understanding several middle-sized cities in the European context.