Abstract

The article analyses the relationship between the sociological research on the metropolis developed by Guido Martinotti (1938-2012) and the institutional history of metropolitan areas in Italy, from the second half of the 1980s to the present day. It shows how Martinotti conceived of the metropolitan scale as a relevant dimension for the study of contemporary urban societies. I argue that the poor reception of Martinotti's work in the scientific discourse depends on the underlying contradiction of his sociological research questions with the metropolitan institutional context, and on the lack of a shared epistemological basis in the field of urban studies.