ABSTRACT
This chapter begins from two points: the condition of European cities and their current problems, a situation that it is necessary to acknowledge and, of course, interpret; and the current condition of architectural culture, which, while counting on a long and significant tradition of studies and projects, particularly rich in Italy in the late 20th century, has become extremely motley, divided, and at variance when it comes to the ways of understanding the city and architecture. The polycentric city model, extended to the regional dimension, seems to be a shared future vision and a target aspired to by the majority. Based on this rationale, a city is not only its compact constructed part, contained within boundaries that are no longer identifiable or solely within administrative boundaries. In the notion of the polycentric city, once again they then become their own, constituent, necessary elements for the construction of the contemporary city.
