“Licence to travel?” Urban imaginary and city models 

The article discusses the spread of an urban discourse built on the reproduction of a few keywords (competitiveness, sustainability, creativity, smartness) and the consequences of such a diffusion on the urban trasformations and, in particular, on urban public spaces. The contemporary urban imaginery appears gradually narrowed in an urban tale acting not only on what one can imagine, but also on the physical transformation of the spaces. Current mainstream global urbanism leads urban transformation processes producing and reproducing a few images and a few models of intervention. The center of Marseille, affected by a number of changes, is a good example of an urban transformation flattened on a stereotyped urban imaginery, where new spaces of consumption respond to the logic of international competition and the attractiveness of companies, investors and tourists. 

Keywords: urban imaginery, policy-mobility, spaces of consumption, Marseille.