TOWARDS A SENSORY METROPOLIS Everyone has his or her own image of a Mediterranean city. Above all, it is a series of sensations: the intense blue sky, the sparkling sea, the pine trees swaying in the breeze, the laundry hanging from the corners of apartment windows, the particular sound of the wind, the clacking of petanque balls, the too-noisy motorbikes, the conversations that float through the air until late at night, the smells that waft amidst the streets. [ + ]
TOWARDS A SENSORY METROPOLIS
Everyone has his or her own image of a Mediterranean city. Above all, it is a series of sensations: the intense blue sky, the sparkling sea, the pine trees swaying in the breeze, the laundry hanging from the corners of apartment windows, the particular sound of the wind, the clacking of petanque balls, the too-noisy motorbikes, the conversations that float through the air until late at night, the smells that waft amidst the streets. Impressions such as these do not easily find a place in manuals of urbanism. They are, however, what makes Mediterranean cities so unique and beautiful. Well beyond their territorial and administrative divisions, cities in the Mediterranean arc share similar cultural and experiential features. From Genova to Barcelona, through Nice, Marseille and Montpellier, the ten million inhabitants of the area each embrace the same landscape—that is, one that faces the sea, and is most often flanked by the pronounced reliefs of the hinterland. They bask in the same climate that creates similarities in their rhythms and their daily preoccupations.
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THE COAST : RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES Despite the real risk of rising sea levels due to global warming, the vast majority of major urban regions are currently in coastal areas. There are obviously many reasons for this, first and foremost among which is the openness to the world represented by the sea front. [ + ]
THE COAST : RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Despite the real risk of rising sea levels due to global warming, the vast majority of major urban regions are currently in coastal areas. There are obviously many reasons for this, first and foremost among which is the openness to the world represented by the sea front. The Mediterranean Arc opens out towards the Middle East and Africa and is far from having exhausted the opportunities which arise out of such a position.
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