In recent years, the concept of space, its representations, and the social, cultural, and political forces that shape and inhabit it have drawn increasing attention from a broad range of disciplinary perspectives. Urban spaces in particular, have come to the fore as crucial subjects of investigation and reflection. In this sense, the history of the Italian cities offers a sort of litmus test to verify the validity and ramifications of this connection between space and cultural production, economy, and political order.

Our research trajectories, specifically the study of early modern Italian comic literature and theater, naturally led us to realize the vantage point that Italian studies offer to the research in urban studies. That realization motivated us to facilitate a conversation among scholars at the cutting edge of the field. Our goal was to track the connection between the city and modernity from its origins, in the proto-capitalist Renaissance Italian city-states, to the current globalization of urban space. At the same time, we aimed at putting Italian studies in dialogue with disciplines and perspectives at the forefront of intellectual conversation in other fields of study. Finally, we wanted to propose a trajectory of analysis that questions the national dimension of Italian cultural production by delocalizing it both at the level of its regional diversity and the global scale beyond national borders.

This ambitious vision lies at the core of this collection of essays by a diverse group of scholars working in North American and European institutions. Bringing this vision to fruition was not an easy task. It entailed a long process and the need to overcome numerous challenges brought about by the unprecedented circumstances of a global pandemic. The COVID pandemic has profoundly and durably changed how we inhabit and conceive of shared spaces. It also sheds light on the impact that the city space has on our life, culture, and what it means to be human. At a time when our way of life has been disrupted and dramatically limited, we looked back at the history of the representations of urban spaces in Italian culture to make sense of our present and imagine a possible future.