| Description |
1 online resource (180 pages) |
| Series |
River Publishers series in chemical, environmental, and energy engineering |
|
River Publishers series in chemical, environmental, and energy engineering.
|
| Contents |
List of Figures ix List of Tables xv List of Contributors xvii 1 Complexifying Urban Histories: The Mediterranean Perspective 1 The individual city's growth: A reflection on urbanisation patterns and processes in Mediterranean Europe 3 The legacy of the 'compact city' 5 Recent trends towards (and beyond) sprawl 8 Rise (and decline) of central cities 10 Demographic trends at the fringe of large cities 12 The 'environmental' dimension of change 16 Rethinking research on Mediterranean urbanities 18 References 21 2 Thirty Years Later: Homage (and Criticism) to Mediterranean Cities 39 Introduction 40 Unravelling antithetical approaches to urbanisation 42 Urbanisation as a distinctive dimension of the economic growth in the Mediterranean region 44 Rediscovering centrality of Mediterranean urban systems 48 'Mediterranean' keywords between global and local dynamics 51 Mediterranean cities: A new down after the dusk 52 Outside cities, beyond cities: Exurban development and the Mediterranean reality 56 The (supposedly) unique landscape of 'Mediterranean cities' 59 Regenerating the Mediterranean city 61 Concluding remarks 64 References 66 3 Lost in Complexity, Found in Diversity: A Summary Look at the Social Geography of a Mediterranean City 77 Introduction 78 The complex geography of a modern city: The case of Athens 79 Urban cycles and Athens' expansion 81 Late industrialisation and early suburbanisation in Athens 84 Exurban development and land consumption in Attica 87 Concluding remarks 89 References 89 4 Economic Transformations and Suburban Expansion in the Mediterranean City: Metropolitan Spaces Revisited 95 Introduction 96 Logical framework 98 Urban-rural convergence as a proof of suburbanisation: The case of Attica 102 The importance of socio-economic indicators 104 Urban-rural convergence in contemporary Attica 107 Suburbanisation as the dominant stage of Mediterranean cities' life cycle 108 Urban-rural convergence as the result of suburban growth 111 Late suburbanisation and the future expansion of Mediterranean cities 113 Concluding remarks 115 References 115 5 Socio-economic Resilience and the Local Background Context: Related Variety Matters 125 Introduction 126 Methodological issues 130 Empirical findings 134 Local resilience and related variety: Discussing the intrinsic linkage 137 Concluding remarks 140 References 141 Index 157 About the Editors 159 |
| Summary |
Processes driving urban growth are inherently related to multiple socio-economic factors, making the analysis of urban form and functions a challenging and complicated endeavour. Several fundamental factors and contextual indicators contribute to identify the main determinants of urban growth, that include economic and demographic variables, the socio-spatial structure, territorial patterns, institutional, religious and cultural attributes. Understanding spatio-temporal patterns of economic resilience can support the adoption of explicit developmental policies addressing specificities and local weaknesses of regional contexts. Thirty years after the seminal work entitled 'The Mediterranean City in Transition' by Lila Leontidou, the present contribution re-formulates a narrative framework interpreting the medium-term evolution of Southern European cities and generalises this frame to the analysis of other metropolitan areas with similar morphological and functional characteristics worldwide. Going beyond traditional Mediterranean discourses grounded on economic backwardness, social secularism, and demographic mix, an original interpretation of Mediterranean urbanities is proposed related to the local governance, real estate bubbles, land-use mix, and deregulation in urban expansion. Focusing on socioeconomic development processes in the Northern Mediterranean, the lost opportunity to reduce regional disparities and to give value to scenic and cultural values of the cities and the surrounding countryside are additional issues considered in this vision. Basing on a narrative analysis of ecologically fragile and socially fragmented Mediterranean contexts, the pervasiveness of a structural crisis - affecting regional and country economic systems, while infiltrating in the institutions, local governance systems, and the society, is finally debated as a contribution to a better understanding of complex urbanities worldwide |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Urbanization -- Mediterranean Region
|
|
Cities and towns -- Mediterranean Region -- Growth
|
|
Sociology, Urban -- Europe, Southern
|
|
Cities and towns -- Growth
|
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Economic history
|
|
Urbanization
|
| SUBJECT |
Mediterranean Region -- Economic conditions.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh00005009
|
| Subject |
Mediterranean Region
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| ISBN |
9788770226486 |
|
8770226482 |
|
9781000793840 |
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1000793842 |
|
9781000797008 |
|
1000797007 |
|
8770226490 |
|
9788770226493 |
|
9781003337645 |
|
1003337643 |
|
