| Summary: | Contemporary cities are affected by profound changes. These have been driven by the transformations in the structure of labour market and in the production system, by the crisis of the traditional urban form and by the new demographic trends and migration flows. The effects of these changes, especially within medium-sized cities, seem to emerge with greater clarity and strength in the suburban areas. These places are, in fact, the ones required to renegotiate their position on the centre-periphery axis. The transition process is especially complex, as it involves not only material changes, but also cultural, economic and social issues. The ethnographic study conducted in a medium-sized Italian city, shows how the transition is accompanied by a growing perception of a distance by the inhabitants and the users of the area. Far from being expressed in only one form, distance constitutes a very multifaceted concept.
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