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Metropolitan cities of Italy

Administrative divisions of Italy

Metropolitan cities of Italy

Administrative divisions of Italy

Map of metropolitan cities as of 2025

The 15 metropolitan cities of Italy () are administrative divisions of Italy, operative since 2015, which are a special type of province. The metropolitan city, as defined by law, includes a large core city and the surrounding suburbs and countryside closely related to it by economic activities and essential public services, as well as to cultural relations and to territorial features.

History

The original 1990 law defined as metropolitan cities the comuni of Turin, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Bari, Naples and their respective hinterlands, reserving the autonomous regions the right to individuate metropolitan areas in their territory. In 2009, amendments added Reggio Calabria to the list. The metropolitan areas defined by the autonomous regions were: Cagliari and Sassari in Sardinia; Catania, Messina and Palermo in Sicily.

On 3 April 2014 the Italian Parliament approved a law that established ten metropolitan cities in Italy, excluding the autonomous regions. Five more were added later. The new metropolitan cities (except Sassari, which was established in 2021 and became operative in 2025) have been operative since 1 January 2015.

Government

A metropolitan city is composed of a central city, which serves as the seat of government, and its surrounding municipalities (comuni). Each metropolitan city is headed by a metropolitan mayor (sindaco metropolitano), who is assisted by a legislative body, the metropolitan council (consiglio metropolitano), and by a non-legislative assembly, the metropolitan conference (conferenza metropolitana).

The metropolitan mayor is the chief executive and administrative officer of the city. The mayor represents, convenes and chairs meetings of the metropolitan council, administers city offices, supervises the functioning of city services, and prepares the city's budget. The mayor of the provincial capital comune automatically becomes the metropolitan mayor.

The metropolitan council is the chief legislative body of the metropolitan city. It proposes laws and amendments to the metropolitan conference, and approves programs, regulations and rules submitted to it by the metropolitan mayor such as the budget. The council consists of mayors and city councillors of each commune in the metropolitan city elected from amongst themselves using partially open list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Metropolitan councillors are elected at-large for five-year terms; votes for metropolitan councillors are weighted by grouping comunes of a certain population range into nine groups so that votes of the mayors and city councillors of the more populous groups are worth than those of less populous groups. The number of councillors a metropolitan city is granted depends upon its population: metropolitan cities with a population of 3 million or more have 24 councillors; metropolitan cities with a population of 800,000 but less than or equal to 3 million have 18 councillors; all other metropolitan cities have 14 councillors.

The metropolitan conference adopts or rejects laws and amendments approved by the metropolitan council. It is the ultimate approving body of the city's budget.

Functions

Metropolitan cities carry out the basic functions of a province, principally:

  • Local planning and zoning
  • Provision of local police services
  • Transport and city services coordination

Metropolitan cities

#Metropolitan cityArea (km²)Population
(2025)DensityOperative sinceMayor
1**Rome** (Roma)5,352 km24,223,8857891 January 2015Roberto Gualtieri (PD)
2**Milan** (Milano)1,575 km23,247,6232,0621 January 2015Giuseppe Sala (Ind)
3**Naples** (Napoli)1,171 km22,958,4102,5261 January 2015Gaetano Manfredi (Ind)
4**Turin** (Torino)6,827 km22,207,8733231 January 2015Stefano Lo Russo (PD)
5**Bari**3,821 km21,218,1913191 January 2015Vito Leccese (PD)
6**Palermo**5,009 km21,194,4392384 August 2015Roberto Lagalla (UDC)
7**Catania**3,574 km21,068,5632994 August 2015Enrico Trantino (FdI)
8**Bologna**3,702 km21,020,8652761 January 2015Matteo Lepore (PD)
9**Florence** (Firenze)3,514 km2989,4602821 January 2015Sara Funaro (PD)
10**Venice** (Venezia)2,462 km2833,9343391 January 2015Luigi Brugnaro (Ind)
11**Genoa** (Genova)1,839 km2818,6514451 January 2015Silvia Salis (Ind)
12**Messina**3,266 km2595,9481824 August 2015Federico Basile (SV)
13**Cagliari**4570 km2538,9891181 January 2017Massimo Zedda (PP)
14**Reggio Calabria**3,183 km2511,93516131 January 2016Giuseppe Falcomatà (PD)
15**Sassari**4285 km2312,555731 April 2025Giuseppe Mascia (PD)

References

References

  1. "CoR - Italy Introduction".
  2. http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/leggi/l142_90.html Law 8 June 1990 n. 142
  3. "Legge 5 maggio 2009, n. 42".
  4. "Addio alle vecchie Province, è legge il Ddl Delrio. Forza Italia: è un golpe".
  5. "LEGGE 7 aprile 2014, n. 56". Pon Metro.
  6. "Città metropolitane/I nuovi organi".
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