The emergence of great metropolises

Illustration : Thierry Cap de Coume

Germany: Large metropolises are far from new here. Three of these (Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen) have even long held the special status of city-state (Stadtstaaten), allowing them to combine the powers of three levels of local administration (Land, district and commune). It is thus that they send representatives to the Bundesrat and that the mayor is a de facto Minister-President. On top of these are 116 towns that concurrently hold the powers of communes and districts – metropolises (kreisfreie Städte) with an average population of 185,000 inhabitants.

Austria: 15 cities with their own statutes have the power to take on the functions of district administration, whereas Vienna has a special status as it is both a city with
its own statute and a Land.

Hungary: The government has promoted the emergence of cities with a departmental status since the start of the 1990s. These cities benefit from a significant budget. Moreover, the capital Budapest is endowed a special status similar to that of departments.

Italy: The Constitution recognises the city-metropolis status of nine entities (Bari, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Rome, Torino and Venice), whereas regions with a special statue have recognised six others (Cagliari, Catania, Messina, Palermo, Sassari and Trieste). However, these towns do not yet function as real city-metropolises. They in fact exercise the powers of provinces and “supra-communal” powers, thus raising the issue of the maintenance of provinces doubling as city-metropolises.

Poland: 65 self-governed towns hold functions of both commune and district. Warsaw has a special legislative status that draws together the eleven communes it comprises in a compulsory grouping of communes. In May 2008, Prime Minister Donald Tusk launched a project to create twelve metropolitan areas with the aim of giving greater autonomy to communes in the management of urban areas, but this project was withdrawn from the legislative agenda in the face of reticence from local elected representatives.

United Kingdom: The status of Greater London is the most advanced of all great metropolises. The London Assembly is made up of 25 Members elected according to two voting methods: 70% of Members are elected by constituencies and 30% are civilian representatives.

Source: Progress report on territorial reorganisation, French Senate, 11 March 2009