Places to discover and to manage. Power, identity and territory in the imperial framework: food for thought. Parole chiave: Territory, Power, Empire, Territory discovery, Space management

This issue of «Storia urbana» investigates the relationships between power and territory and their mutual influence. On the one hand, the analysis of the territory, of its discovery and management enables a better understanding of the power system that shapes it; on the other hand, the territory itself is an active element, influencing the choices of the policy maker and highlighting the existing power relationships. In this framework, "identity" plays a central role, too: the territory is the scene over which several social groups act, thus every political action impacts directly on the relationship between the different communities. These themes become even more interesting when they are examined in the framework of the empire, where the territory is a central element: in particular understanding how the political power managed the differences within the imperial framework, how it established the connection between the colonies and the motherland, as well as how it managed the colonial territories in loco and which heritage colonialism left on the territory. Territory discovery, connections management, relationships with the different social communities are some of the themes examined in the essays of the volume and can be clustered around two main perspectives: "the discovery of the territory" and "the management of the space".

Keywords: Territorio, Potere, Impero, Scoperta del territorio, Gestione dello spazio

Annalisa Pinchetti, Luogo da scoprire e spazio da gestire. Potere, identità e territorio nel contesto imperiale: spunti di riflessione in "STORIA URBANA " 143/2014, pp 5-12, DOI: 10.3280/SU2014-143001