New urbanity in metropolitan regions

Abstract

The classical understanding of urbanity is guided by notion of European City, hall marks of which have been summarised by Walter Siebel (2004, 18) as: the presence of history in everyday life of city-dwellers; city constandy per ceived as a Utopian promise of both economic and political emancipation; city as special set ting for an urban life style; image of a European townscape handed down through time; and finally, its regulatory function within social state. Since Middle Ages these features have found tangible ex pression in townscape in form of town halls, market places and churches which form core of a physically compact and multifunctional centre. These features are currently undergoing change within context of socio-economic restructuring. The fun damental societal and spatial structures underlying European City appear largely to be in a state of dissolution. The age of industrialisation already saw creation of polycentric metropolitan areas which appeared to exhibit various shortcomings by com parison with this model, but which ultimately also have come to represent a distinct manifestation of process of urbanisation. The highly differenti ated and flexible social, economic, cultural and com municative structures and developments which are associated with post-industrial western societies are increasingly at odds with classical understanding of urbanity. There is today clear evidence of increasing heterogeneity and fragmentation of urban life styles and socio-spatial structures. Similarly there are defi nite signs of increasing levels of polycentricity and diversification of urban functions in metropolitan regions. This change is taking place on various scales and has spatial impacts, for example in emergence of new functional clusters (such as those for knowledge economy and for industries), and in localisation of new life styles and milieus. What we now see emerging are new urban clusters with spe cific locational patterns, catchment areas, addressing different target groups and with different symbolic features. The creation of urbanity is coming more and more to rank as a key factor in competition to attract international investors, a highly qualified workforce and members of creative class. It is