Dinâmicas e processos de transformação urbana em Milão. Finalmente um “gay district”?

This article retraces the transformation and re-signification processes of the “Lazzaretto”, part of the Porta Venezia district in Milan. They are read through the specific lens of the stratification and changes of its commercial fabric, aspects that have always influenced the way in which the public space is used, its conflicts and image. Place of “landing” and settlement of diverse migratory flows throughout the last decades the area is now emerging as a “gay district” of the city, an area of nightlife and movida linked to evening and nighttime loisir connected to postmodern to new bars and restaurants. In this sense it is turning to be a space of “LGBT+ visibility" in fieri. The article is based on extensive empirical research carried out through observations and mappings, interviews with different kinds of informants as well as on the analysis of newspaper articles and heterogeneous publications dedicated to LGBT+ groups.