At the beginning of the 21st century, urban spaces can besaid to be in a stage of growth and radical transformation. Cities arehighly expansive, both in scale and scope. The spatial configuration ofurban spaces is, however, becoming more and more decentralised andfragmentary. The traditional dichotomy between urban hierarchy andperiphery is disappearing. New metropolitan spaces are characterised bydistance related processes of social and economic specialisation andsegmentation, and often also by splitting social polarisation. Theplanning agendas in city regions are trying to make add more balance tothe process of disruptive urban development. This paper brieflyexplores the transformation of metropolitan spaces using a genericapproach. The article also focuses on the attempts in metropolitanplanning strategies to cope with these challenges under differenttypical institutional conditions of regions in Europe. Finally, thepaper investigates the potential impact of strategic urban projects asregards a more balanced shaping of urban transformation. The questionsdealt with are: How are urban mega projects conceptually framed, howare the supporting alliances mobilised and how are citizens and socialgroups involved in order to create new integrated urban space ?
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