New Integration Prospects for the Metropolitan Area of the Strait: The Role of the Cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria in the Enhancement of Local Resources

This paper illustrates a hypothesis of research on the role of the two metropolitan cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria in the development of the Integrated Strait Area and on the one they may play in the broader Euro-Mediterranean context, in the light of the 2014-2020 EU programming period. In particular, the research refers to the enhancement and activation of local resources and is inspired by the study La Nuova Occasione. Città e valorizzazione delle risorse locali, coordinated by Paola Casavola and Carlo Trigilia on behalf of Fondazione Res, whose method it shares and applies to the Strait Area, though with certain diversities due to the specific case concerned. The basic assumption is to believe that, today, the development and growth of territories depend on the functioning of cities, since they are the place where present and future residential areas, the idea of a government of public interest, intellectual activity and business management concentrate. Therefore, such cities should seize the chance to turn into catalysts of the economy, places of connectivity, creativity and innovation. This idea is even more rooted in the conurbation of the Strait of Messina, whose only possibility of future development, within a European geographical space characterized by the prevalence of strong and consolidated urban regions, may only derive from the capability of the two cities to become aware of their role in enhancing their particular local conditions and the varied latent potentials related to their specific local identity [1]