Transitions and latent structures of some Italian Urban systems (1951-2011)

In the last 60 years Italy experienced a nearly continuous population growth (about 25%), switching from 47 in 1951 to almost 60 millions of people in 2011. Such a dynamic took place differently in the various territorial contexts. The analysis of the transition phases in seven local urban systems allowed to shed some lights on the heterogeneous evolutions of such urban areas, also with respect to core and ring municipalities. The application of a dynamic principal component analysis shows a dual, North-South evolutionary pattern for the urban areas. Moreover, the discrepancies between core and ring municipalities bear evidence that the city - meant as core municipality of the urban area - is still conceived as the preferred place where a person can find many more individual and social growth opportunities.