Search

The aim of this article is to investigate, through a case study from the city of Turin, the reaction to the arrival of bicycles and automobiles in Italy. It focuses on the early years of bicycle and automobile use, using municipal council minutes, local newspapers, and satirical magazines as sources. The introduction of velocipedes and cars disrupted the traditional use of roads as public spaces, generating protests against the new transport devices, especially with regard to safety concerns resulting from the transgression of traditional uses of urban streets, the speed of vehicles, and the anonymity of riders and drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Il Capitale Culturale: Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage is the property of Il Capitale Culturale Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the 19th century plan to rebrand Turin, Italy as a sea port by connecting the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas via canal and hydroelectric power. Topics discussed include background information on plan engineer Gaetano Capuccio, details on the logistics and philosophy of the plan, and transportation and commerce in Turin during this time.

Recent openings of new high-speed rail (HSR) lines in Italy, together with the April 2012 entrance of a new private operator in the Italian HSR market in competition with the national incumbent, have created the conditions for an investigation of long-distance travel demand. In this paper, we present some empirical evidences on the evolution of national passenger demand before and after HSR major openings, a unique case study based on source data, a retrospective survey and extensive counts on board trains, gathered between 2008 and 2011. Results show a significant increase of traffic volume by rail due to the introduction of HSR and we estimate short-term direct HSR demand elasticities with respect to travel time in the range of –1.5 and –2.1, and in the range – 0.7 to – 1.1 in terms of HSR modal shares. The different elasticity values confirm the presence of a strong “induced demand” effect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The first Italian motorway opened in 1924, despite a low level of car ownership. It was not the first road in the world solely for motor vehicles, but the public relations flair of its creator and his idea of a motorway for everyman ensured a succès d'estime. Beyond the economic interests, motorways were intended to popularise car mobility and to colonise the wide open spaces. The brief political détente before 1929 saw the launch of plans for a continental network. But the Depression froze every international project. While Hitler pushed through the construction of nearly 4,000 km of Reichsautobahnen, Italy, in contrast, built some 500 km in the 1920s; the economic crisis halted all development, not least given the lack of a critical mass of motor traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses time-space compression in the invention of the airplane. Author's view on the social construction of speed, time and space; Comparison of two modernist perceptions of the airplane; Proclamation of the annihilation of time and space and plasticity of reality in 1910 by the Italian Futurist movement.