The Mediterranean Metropolitan Cities in Transition between Past and Future: New Strategies in Search of New Regional Roles

For identifying new planning strategies on the Mediterranean urban realities, we could question what these mean. The first goal of this paper is to give a definition of Mediterranean city. A definition not only geographic or morphologic, but principally built on the concept of border that pervade the philosophy of the "Meridian thinking". Beside this we need to refuse the new classification of world metropolitan city users and to prefer a study nearer the degraded realities that mark the Mediterranean urban landscape. In fact, if the metropolitan structure is usually characterised by factors as the physician continuity, the growth of tertiary activities and the cultural propulsivity, the Mediterranean cities also reveal a "culture of the derogation" and a great rural immigration that give still significance to the classification of the resident population, instead of those based on the service users. From a side, the recognition of different Mediterranean urban systems points out the need to separate and to connect, on the other side it risks to abstractions far away from the urban problems. In its position of border, the Mediterranean City is essentially monocentric and is connected mainly to its hinterland. Though they must consider a always more globalized market, the strategies seem to be destined to face the regional scale, exceeding the urban/rural distinctions and stimulating the local community participation.