How were the city-states of northern and central italy different from the rest of europe?

They were urban, not feudal, and were based around commerce. is how  were the city-states of northern and central italy different from the rest of europe but correect statment would be 'urban not rural' due to fact that italy was cover by metropolies and small towns with lack of big numebr of developed villages with agriculture therfore italy was a demanding market for food from other areas