Cooperation and Competition of Metropolises in South Eastern Europe: Athens and Constantinople. Evolution and Perspective

This study searches the cooperation and the competition among the metropolises in South East Europe. Especially, it focuses on the interaction between Athens and Constantinople. First, it outlines the contemporary regional network of cities of SE Europe. Secondly, it presents the location, the infrastructure and the investments of the private and the public sector in Athens and the Constantinople. Furthermore, there is a comparison made in each category between the two cities and there are pinpointed the opportunities of common actions. Ultimately, the conclusions of the study underline the potential created in SE Europe because of the interaction these metropolises. The study is useful due to the necessity to find out how the relationships of the two development poles in SE Europe, taking always into account the differences in culture between the two countries, affect important issues in planning as the Foreign Direct Investments, the urban governance and the networks between metropolises built by the cooperation and the competition.