ABSTRACT
Naples is Italys fourth largest city after Milan, Rome, and Turin, and is the worlds 103rd largest urban economy by purchasing power, with an estimated 2008 GDP of $51 billion. A large volume of scientific and political literature has been published in recent years on the subject of shrinking cities. The typology of shrinking regions comprises four different categories in which population decline between 2005 and 2030 is classified as almost certain, probable, improbable and highly improbable. The overall population of the Naples region has been quite stable over the last decade, but with a slight reduction in numbers since 2005. Programmes for urban regeneration and sustainable development are intended to promote and finance publicprivate partnerships for urban regeneration projects. EU urban policy implementation has helped to initiate and give strength to a new local administration lite whose procedures and planning activity are much more effective, transparent and subject to more evaluation than before.
