Can the town centre be a territorial infrastructure?

The aim of this study is to verify whether the traditional town centre can be considered a territorial infrastructure. Two empirical experiences will be proposed to confirm or confute this hypothesis. Traditional definitions of the town centre consider this urban area a place where people spend their time and money, defining it as a central place in urban agglomerations (Birch, 2009; Ford, 2003; Whyte, 1988) and attributing different meanings both real and symbolic (Balsas, 2014). Town centres are recognized as places that offer a multifaceted range of functions and services (sometimes experiences connected with culture, history, and so on) (Page & Hardyman, 1996; Ashworth & Voogd, 1988; 1990; 1994) capable of attracting citizens, tourists, investors, and many other categories of people who have a social, economic, and political relationship with these places (Wells, 1991). The town centre is a central place close to where people live or where the main central streets converge (Page & Hardyman, 1996). More specifically, the town centre is the core of a city that possesses its own history and traditions handed down through time and capable of generating wealth. For these reasons, it is essential to keep the town centre alive, vibrant, and viable. This conceptual study aims to propose a new concept of the town centre as a territorial infrastructure by using an interpretive approach (Myers, 2013) to verify whether the traditional concept of a town centre can be considered in a new optic like territorial infrastructure. The first step is to consider the definition of territorial infrastructure applied to the airport concept, as offered by Mazzeo (2011:65): “It is a territorial infrastructure that increases the spatial accessibility and the economic potential of a territory; in this sense, it is also a port to boost tourism and cultural exchanges, it is also an infrastructure bringing with it investment in other areas of mobility.” By analysing this definition, it is possible to identify several factors that permit considering the town centre to be a territorial infrastructure.