Though research presented here spans more than a decade, the book was actually written during 1985-8, as I was becoming distant from a long career in planning. Reflections on the type of our acquired urban models and their impact on a non-receptive society, spontaneous and speculative, pointed to the necessity for emancipation from Anglo-American geography. I was becoming convinced that an alternative urban development theory should be explored, not only for the Third World, as in my previous works, but also for the Mediterranean European city. The major encouragement for such a project was provided by those Greek professors of architecture, surveying, planning and engineering who actively supported my entrance into academia in 1985. I am deeply grateful for their confidence in me during a crucial period of my life.

The book was written on the occasion of a Senior Fellowship at the former Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research of the Johns Hopkins University (1986), and of a grant awarded by the Empirikion Foundation of Greece for the study of industrial growth and decline in Greek metropolitan regions (1987). I would like to acknowledge my gratitude for these awards. Besides research completed in the 1980s, this book incorporates some material from my Ph.D. thesis (parts of chapters 4, 6), submitted to the University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science (1981). I wish to thank again Emrys Jones for years of stimulating and patient supervision and subsequent continuous friendly encouragement; and Brian Robson for his support and constructive interventions from the time when he appeared as my external examiner until the final manuscript of this book was submitted.