The metropolis in re-composition the regeneration of contemporary metropolitan mosaics

Urban explosions have caused an uncontrolled fragmentation of the physical space of the territory, many times resembling a broken mirror, a brittle mosaic; in which the fragments still retain the meaning of all that decomposed. Beyond and more than a morphological and formal approach to metropoles, what we need today is a holistic vision and understanding of their complexity. Contemporary metropoles constitute multi-spatial ecosystems, open from the point of view of dynamic socio-economic relations and interconnected with simultaneous urbanities and ruralities. That is why we need new interpretative versions representative of the contemporary socio-territorial realities and an enriched knowledge intertwined with interdisciplinary approaches that seek the analytical integration of facts, dynamics and processes; and consequently, propose a renewed vision of the urban and territorial “facts” and the necessary arguments for improving its management. The future of the city, and its subsistence as a valid model for the sustainable management of the planet, lies in the materialization of the principles envisioned and defined by the territorial mosaic city; A city linked to the territory, forming part of its biological and life cycles, and a territory that permeates the city, with a determined spatial coexistence in terms of dynamics of exchanges and systemic symbiosis. The Territorial Mosaic City is the conceptual model that we propose in order to conceive a shift in paradigm and an advance towards a sustainable management of the contemporary metropolitan city. The model implies a parallel morphological and environmental structure, thought in terms of a mutual ecological adaptation and one that favours the coevolution of the interacting urban and natural ecosystems, eventually promoting an articulated mosaic which aims to be environmentally balanced. It is now the time that we must strive to define new concepts and imaginaries and to make urban and territorial regeneration operationally feasible. All disciplines, political responsibilities and social-technical practices, we are now at a point where we must face both the challenge but also the opportunity to promote a truly sustainable planet, and conserve it as a common good for all humanity. In the case of the Barcelona metropolis, we have carried out an extensive analysis of Barcelona metropolitan projects and actions to detect the strategies, project bases and actions that have contributed to improving its functional efficiency.