Setting of "The Honest Whore"

Geographical accuracy, or at least consistency, is clearly not one of Dekker’s main concerns. Though ostensibly set in Milan, this “City Comedy” imports many English characters (George, Roger, Mistress Fingerlock), English jokes and slang, English locations (Bethlehem), English customs (the apprentices, “clubs”, the clothing fashions), and even references to English theatre (Comedy of Errors, implications of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet). Given the fact that the play is clearly about London, why does Dekker export it to Italy? Are the Italian motifs in the play (poison, vendetta and revenge, the practice of “painting” and cosmetics) really important enough to justify the setting?