Arcades appear as one of the first devices by which urban retail areas configure a special space. A large part of the streets of the old town of Bologna, in Italy, have arcades, that today are usually a substitute for what would be conventional sidewalks. This allows pedestrians to get protection from the sun, but in winter days snow and ice can resist longer…

Arcades being a typological element, they adopt diferent shapes in the Bologna landscape, with diverse constructive solutions, but always maintaining protected paths on which urban retail can be enjoyed.

Old Bologna is almost flat, but what happens with streets on hills?

In the small  Galician city of Betanzos some streets adapt the arcades to the slope towards the river.

Arcades even become a space for restaurants with a view