ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a chain of metropolitan metamorphoses, with particular reference to the second post-war period, and discusses the emergence of a city-region connected to a larger and internationalized polycentric mega-city, which is, however, still rooted in some basic cultural and social characters. For a strange case of circularity in history, Venice became one of the most important metropolises of the world in the late Middle Ages as a reticular space of flows, and its destiny now is still linked to global flows. The Veneto region appears a fluid city-region. Particularly in the Latin tradition, the metropolis is not associated with city size, but with the religious and administrative power, and influence on a territory. The old global metropolis had become a regional capital, maintaining an attitude of superiority towards other cities, which reinforced a kind of separateness between Venice and the Veneto. The metropolis attracted international people, with its great number of theatres, celebrations and fairly free moral habits.
