Da area a città metropolitana: una possibile rinascita per l'Italia?

From Urban Area to Metropolitan Authority: A Possible Renaissance for italy The authors introduce the essays included in this issue of «Meridiana» whose aim is to give a contribution to the collective reflexion about the «Delrio law» approved in April 2014 which has instituted fourteen Metropolitan Authorities in Italy. The articles describe the transformations which have interested four important metropolitan areas - Milano, Firenze, Roma and Napoli - during the last three decades and their social and environmental implications. They also define the interventions that the new institution must realise. In spite of the limits of the «Delrio law» the Metropolitan Authorities could yet represent a national political project direct to overtake those divisions and conflicts between different parts of Italy beginning from local level. For reaching this result it's important to give a democratic character to the government of Metropolitan Authorities and promote a larger city's bottom up policies.. Keywords: urban transformations, Italian renaissance, urban areas, unification local governments