The metropolitan debate had in our country different phases of discussion. Recent legislative measures have brought to the attention of administrators, policy makers and researchers the issue of the definition of the boundaries of the metropolitan areas. The paper wants to propose, very briefly, a summary of the events relating to the proposals of definition of the Metropolitan area in Italy and, in particular, of the Metropolitan Venetian area also through some tools of regional planning area implemented during the last decades. The proposal contained in the paper is to identify the metropolitan areas from parameters that are able to combine quantitative and qualitative data and the relationships between the stakeholders involved, and to look to the metropolitan area as opportunity for a region that needs to find different and alternative forms of development.
Keywords: Central Area of the Veneto Region, Metropolitan Area, Urban Sprawl
Jel Code: R14; R52; R58