ABSTRACT
This chapter explains number of general reflections about the role of intermediate cities in an increasingly globalized world in which there is a tendency to concentrate economic activity and innovation in the great metropolitan areas. The trend over recent years seems to be to make the world a more and more polarized place, with major conurbations and global cities concentrating increasingly large amounts of population, economic activity and innovation. During the last couple of decades, some of the analysing the consequences of information technologies have been reporting the progressive loss of value of geographical factors. Medium-sized city is a concept that emerged and spread through the Latin cultural and scientific environment from Latin America to France via Italy, Portugal and Spain. The model of the industrial city attracting waves of labour is not necessarily applicable in the 21st century; now, in theory, the post-industrial city can become a success without great increases in population.
