Studying the continuity and changes in the spatial and economic confi gurations of cities and regions is very diffi cult and challenging because of the complex structures that compose these confi gurations, which touch on a wide variety of heterogeneous aspects, e.g. the economic, spatial, political, demographic, sociocultural and cognitive, actors and other factors. In order to understand the longrun spatial and economic metamorphosis of cities and regions, a multi-disciplinary approach, based on key innovative ideas developed by various theoretical strands in urban and regional economics, geography and planning, is needed. This poses great theoretical and empirical challenges because of the absence of synthesised work that links, for example, the extensive theoretical approaches and analytical tools developed in urban and regional economics to institutional theories.