ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the Palermo region through its area metropolitana, an administrative entity which was introduced in Sicily in 1986 and conceived to include 27 municipalities from Partinico to Termini Imerese. It discusses some remarks and explores the Palermo case within the theoretical framework of the post-metropolitan discourse in Italy. Considering the whole Italian state, Palermo has long been the fifth city by population, surpassing Genoa in the 1981-1991 decade. Allen J. Scott's ideas on the relevant economic aspects in post-metropolises, seems clear that Palermo and its surroundings are far from the general trends of global metropolises. The transformation of the characters of land use in the metropolitan area from agricultural to mainly urban is a consequence of economic and political choices. Some municipalities within the metropolitan city of Palermo, such as Termini Imerese, have expressed their intent to continue a difficult, but not unsubstantiated, path toward polycentrism, by working together with other nearby municipalities in a common framework.
