As we approach the end of the century, immigration from the southern part of the world has had increasingly important social, political, economic and cultural implications.

This is especially true where large European cities are concerned, insofar as they are the main destinations of immigrants.

Big cities, including Italian cities such as Milan, Naples, Rome and Turin represent poles of attraction for an incessant flow of immigrants. The number of foreigners resident in Italy is below the European average, but, as in other European countries, they are not evenly distributed. The 1991 census clearly showed that about 30% of immigrants live in cities with populations of more than 500,000. In fact, Milan, Naples, Rome and Turin have the highest concentrations.

Understanding the relationship between the phenomenon of migration and city administration is an important political challenge, and one which all developed societies face. These societies, however, have yet to identify solid Interpretations of the situation which will provide them with "strong" tools for dealing with it. In essence, the problem of the relationship between new ethnic groups and urban economies is a priority to both researchers and administrators.

Research carried out by ISMU in recent years has shown how public policies aimed at dealing with problems arising from the presence of immigrants and set within the broader context of urban management differ greatly. These differences are in terms of content, inspiration and objectives and vary between a binomial control/repression on the one hand, and integration on the other.

Furthermore, the phenomenon of migration is only one aspect, albeit multifaceted, of a highly complicated situation in which a large number of other forces make themselves felt in the big cities in developed democracies.
It is precisely in order to meditate on these themes, within a paradigm incorporating all their complexities, and with the aim of producing hypotheses for the management of urban spaces, that Italy has decided to take part in the Metropolis Project. To this end, the Italian and Canadian Governments have signed a bilateral agreement and a steering committee has been set up in Italy comprising the Ministry for Social Affairs, the CNEL (National Council for the Economy and Work) and the Cariplo ISMU Foundation. These three important institutions represent government, public and private research respectively.

In keeping with the spirit of research and service, Italy decided to host the first Metropolis conference in Milan in November 1996. The Conference was attended by 20 countries, 4 international organisations and over 300 participants.
This book is a collection of the speeches made at the Conference. After the International Steering Committee - including Guido Bolaffi, Meyer Burstein and Demetrios Papademetriou - had illustrated the aims of the Metropolis Project, the phenomenon of migration towards the major cities was put at the centre of the international debate by the Canadian Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Sergio Marchi. The special and complex aspects that the subject provokes enlivened the main day of the Conference, and from this are offered the papers which were delivered at the outset (from André-Clément Decouflé, Ynge Georg Lithman, Marie McAndrew and Morton Weinfeld, Saskia Sassen and Roger Waldinger) and, in an extremely abridged form, the conclusions of the Working Groups (Baha Abu-Laban, Carla Collicelli, Kathleen Newland, Steve Vetorec).   Lastly, from the First Conference of Metropolis, Demetrios Papademetriou draws some indications which will guide the International Project in the near future.