Il contesto territoriale dell'indagine: l'area metropolitana di Napoli e le sue articolazioni

As a part of a research on the settlement of migrants in Naples Metropolitan Area commissioned to the Dept. of Social Sciences by the Regional Government of Campania, this essay is devoted to: 1) summarize the assumptions about the boundaries of the area chosen for the research; 2) outline the demographic changes of the 30 years 1971-2001; 3) give the elements for the identification of 8 sub-areas, useful for the statistical analysis. The subject of delimitation of the Naples Metropolitan Area is analysed with the instruments of traditional studies on urban processes in Italy and using some more recent interpretations. The delimitation chosen was similar to those formulated in the ‘80s, with some modifications that the aim of the research made necessary. The study of demographic changes made clear a deeply changed urban geography of this part of the region, with a decreasing primacy of Naples. This made it possible to identify the 8 sub-areas with a sufficient internal level of omogeneity.