Abstract

CAPEL, Horacio. Small cities in generalized urbanization and global crisis. Invest. Geog [online]. 2009, n.70, pp.07-32. ISSN 2448-7279.

Today, referring to the small city means talking about a space that can be connected in every way to the rest of the World, and yet features a particular social and morphologic environment, which is different to that of large cities, and that may therefore be rather attractive. In the current situation of Generalized Urbanization, the meaning of middle and small cities is changing, with respect to what happened in the past. While it could long be asserted that urban growth was a very positive fact (the larger, the better), since the decade of the sixties, when the controversy about growth limits was raised, this perspective began to change. Nowadays it is certainly true that, in some cases, the lesser that growth is, the better, and in every situation, the most balanced it is, the better. Today, small cities may have significant advantages over large ones: they can be innovative, hold education centers, enjoy access to knowledge and culture, and be well communicated with areas of dynamic economic development. And besides all of this, they can be very agreeable places to live in.

Keywords : Small cities; regional development; urbanization changes; European Territorial Strategy.

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