The number of inhabitants living in urban areas – currently already equal to half the Earth’s population compared to a quarter one century ago – will experience a major increase over the next twenty-five years, reaching six billion people which will be equal to about two-thirds of the world’s population in just a quarter of a century’s time. The challenges that are threatening to squash today’s metropolis are the extremely radicalised ones that were, in essence, already present in 20th-century urbanisation: the challenges of being safe, equal and fair, of offering work, of providing open spaces, places for recreational activities, meeting people and entertainment, of granting economic opportunities and of ensuring compliance with the meta principle of accessibility, which now seems to represent, when present, the greatest wealth; physical and immaterial accessibility to all parts of the metropolis, to community comforts and services, to education and healthcare, to drinking water and clean air. Smart grid and smart cities are, at the present time, appearing on contemporary scenarios in an explosive and innovative manner, yet one that is too fast and technologically advanced to be absorbed and endorsed by the increasingly complex urban governance management processes. The energy-environment category of problematic observations undoubtedly represents the key issue of today’s metropolis, which will strongly come to the fore when looking at the observations in this article below concerning the specific characteristics of the 'Italian metropolis'
