Hybrid Urban Services, Proximity Growth, and Digital Connectivity

The evolution of urban areas has been accompanied by the spatial reconfiguration of their functions including residence, work, service, study, commerce, and leisure. Specifically, the development of the “public city” underscores how urban services are affected by rapid changes arising from the community needs (such as inhabitants, residents, city users), improvement of physical accessibility, and the ongoing digital transition. On the one hand, this evolution influences the same needs and, on the other, offers solutions through digital connectivity. Furthermore, the “central places,” with a strong character of aggregation and sociability with the digital transition—also amplified by the health crisis—are less and less physical and aggregative. Digital services have gone from one-time to routine, often replacing physical ones. Within this comprehensive context, rooted in our understanding of the evolution of urban services, this chapter puts forth an initial hypothesis regarding the necessary methodological approach to support the planning of hybrid services in the redefined proximity of physical spaces and the expanding reach of digital accessibility.