New Metropolitan Spaces and Metropolitan Strategies in the Face of Modernisation

At the beginning of the 21st century, urban spaces can be said to be in a stage of growth and radical transformation. Cities are highly expansive, both in scale and scope. The spatial configuration of urban spaces is, however, becoming more and more decentralised and fragmentary. The traditional dichotomy between urban hierarchy and periphery is disappearing. New metropolitan spaces are characterised by distance related processes of social and economic specialisation and segmentation, and often also by splitting social polarisation. The planning agendas in city regions are trying to make add more balance to the process of disruptive urban development. This paper briefly explores the transformation of metropolitan spaces using a generic approach. The article also focuses on the attempts in metropolitan planning strategies to cope with these challenges under different typical institutional conditions of regions in Europe. Finally, the paper investigates the potential impact of strategic urban projects as regards a more balanced shaping of urban transformation. The questions dealt with are: How are urban mega projects conceptually framed, how are the supporting alliances mobilised and how are citizens and social groups involved in order to create new integrated urban space