città metropolitana

[anglomania1]

Hello,
any idea what a città metropolitana is?
I'm translating an article about health farms with massage, spas etc and how to beat stress. The sentence is:
Stiamo parlando delle “urban spa” (salus per aquam, come dicevano gli antichi Romani) una realtà sempre più diffusa nelle città metropolitane,
che, grazie ai servizi offerti e alla loro suggestiva ambientazione, offrono un ampio ventaglio di trattamenti in grado di soddisfare ogni esigenza.

Doesn't it just mean "cities"? Why the "metropolitane" bit?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Anglo

 

[Yulan]

Hi Anglo

You got it right and considering that

"La Città metropolitana è un ente amministrativo italiano, previsto dall’art. 114 della Costituzione della Repubblica italiana (dopo la riforma dell’Ordinamento della Repubblica del 2001, con la modifica del Titolo V della Costituzione). Corrisponde al concetto internazionale di metropoli."

I actually believe "città metropolitana" is improperly used in this context to indicate a "metropolis" i.e., a "big city".

Hope it helps

 

[anglomania1]

Hi,

Could you not just translate it as "metropolitan cities"? "Metropolitan" meaning "vibrant, modern, cutting-edge"?

Hi there and thanks for your help?
Is this what it means though?
I get the impression they just mean "big city".
I've just seen Yulan's post, thanks, you've just confirmed what I thought!
Thanks to both of you
Anglo

 

[Lorena1970]

I agree with "big city". If we are talking about Italy, these cities are Milan, Turin, Rome - well, just in case, we are comparing them with London, Hong Kong, NYC,Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Rio, Mexico City, Bueno Aires.................!!! The italian cities cannot be called "metropoli", so they are named "città metropolitane".

 

[london calling]

Just out of interest.....città metropolitane.

I'd also say big towns/cities here, Anglo.

 

[infinite sadness]

Io non la vedo questa impossibilità di chiamarle metropoli.

 

[Lorena1970]

Just out of interest.....città metropolitane.

Good point: in this sense, it seems I forgot some cities...!My mistake.

@IS: beh...forse Milano, Roma, Torino si possono definire metropoli.......ma Bologna, Firenze, Genova, Venezia non le definirei mai metropoli...!

 

[furs]

Big cities is a colloquial term and is widely used, but note that 'metropolitan areas' is also a very common term. And the Wikipedia definition for metropolitan area ""a region consisting of a populous urban core with a high density of employment plus surrounding territory that is socio-economically linked to the urban core by commuting"" translates exactly citta' metropolitana IMO.

 

[anglomania1]

Hi there and thanks to everyone!
Now that I've actually understood what the term means, I think the question now is what sounds most natural in English.
I can't speak for my American colleagues but I don't really think I use the word metropolitan in English at all (except when talking about the police!!).
For me the most natual phrase is "big cities".
Thanks again,
Anglo