Milan metropolitan area
The Milan metropolitan area, known as Grande Milano ("Greater Milan"), is the metropolitan area of the Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy.
The spatial spread of the Milan metropolitan area has greatly accelerated over recent decades. Since the 1960s, the growth of the numerous settlements around the core of the city has defined the extent and patterns of the metropolitan area, and commuting flows suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded even beyond the boundaries of the Province of Milan. A single, large and increasingly widespread conurbation with the city of Milan at its hub defines the metropolitan area; however, its extent can vary greatly depending on the defining source. The Milan metropolitan area contains a population of 8,123,020 in 2013 ISTAT.
The Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density.
The metropolitan area is strictly statistical and does not imply any kind of administrative unity or function.
One definition of the metropolitan area is the local labour market system, an official definition based on commuting patterns used by Istat, consisting of 115 municipalities (comuni) with a total population of 2,975,754 (2001).
Another definition is synonymous with the province of Milan, with 3,869,037 inhabitants distributed over an area of 1,982 km2 (765 sq mi).
According to Eurostat Urban Audit program, the larger urban zone of Milan has a population of 3,076,643.
Finally, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) territorial review of 2006 takes a more inclusive definition based on socioeconomic patterns. They define the Milan metropolitan area as the Lombard provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and the Piedmontese Province of Novara. The overall population under this definition is about 7,400,000, dispersed over an area of about 12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi).
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