Medium-sized cities (MSCs) are important hinges between metropolitan and rural regions. However, their evolutionary trajectories are less investigated than those of metropolises, which are the main places of investment and innovation in many fields. _x000D_
This contribution focuses on the 12 Italian MSCs involved in the MediAree-Next Generation City project (2020-2023), coordinated by the Department of Public Administration and financed with European funds. These are 12 provincial capitals with a population between 30,000 and 150,000 inhabitants: Avellino, Brindisi, Campobasso, Latina, Novara, Nuoro, Pordenone, Rimini, Siena, Siracusa, Trapani and Treviso. The demographic and settlement transformations of these cities are studied, in a period characterised by the demographic contraction of the country as a whole and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. An attempt is made to understand whether the drive towards suburbanisation is still active. Investigating the relationships between MSCs and crown municipalities, differences between Northern and Southern Italy are evident. Moreover, there is often a gap between MSCs and their territorial surrounds, both with respect to demographic profiles (population age, social composition, human capital) and to the settlement development pattern. Many MSCs have repopulated by focusing on the recovery of brownfield sites and the densification of built spaces. With the post-pandemic “new normal”, they could exploit the advantages of medium density to attract new inhabitants from other areas. On the other hand, many municipalities around the MSCs, still in recent years, tend to grow in dispersed forms and with considerable land consumption. However, the population here has not always increased (especially in Southern Italy). Cohesion and sustainability are put at risk by these different dynamics. More effective inter-municipal planning is needed. _x000D_

Maria Antonietta Clerici
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic of Milan, Italy

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ID Abstract: 605