Metropolitan City of Bologna

The Metropolitan City of Bologna (città metropolitana di Bologna) is a metropolitan city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is de facto the city of Bologna, though the body does not explicitly outline it. It was created by the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990) and established by the Law 56/2014, replacing the province of Bologna. It has been operative since 1 January 2015.

The Metropolitan City is headed by the Metropolitan Mayor (sindaco metropolitano) and by the Metropolitan Council (consiglio metropolitano).

History
Remains of the Iron Age Villanovan culture were discovered near Bologna by archaeologists in 1853. The city was settled by the Etruscans and named Velzna, later Felsina. In the 6th century BCE, Felsina was known for its markets and trade. It was invaded by the Gallic Boii tribe in this period, who developed the agricultural output of the region. The Romans began their conquest of the region around 220 BCE and were successful by the 180s BCE; upon their capture of Felsina, it was renamed Bononia. After Rome fell in 476 CE and the region suffered barbarian invasions, Bononia was made a fortress.

The city was owned by Charlemagne but was given to the Holy See in 774. Later, the Holy Roman Empire controlled the city and it became known as Bologna. Bologna became a commune by 1114, but it desired independence and in 1176 it joined the Lombard League, an alliance opposed to the Holy Roman Empire's influence. Emperor Frederick I recognised its desire for independence and granted it some autonomy. It joined the Second Lombard League to defeat Frederick II in 1249. Bologna became part of the Papal States in 1506 and joined the Kingdom of Italy upon Italian unification in the 19th century.

The University of Bologna was founded in 1088; its speciality was Roman and canon law, and it set standards in the way it was organised and the curriculum that was followed by universities in Italy.

Geography
The Metropolitan City of Bologna is part of the region of Emilia-Romagna in northwestern Italy. It is in the centre of the region and is bounded on the east by the province of Ravenna, while the province of Ferrara lies to the north and the province of Modena lies to the west. To the south are the Metropolitan City of Florence, the province of Prato and the province of Pistoia, all in the region of Tuscany.

The metropolitan territory is largely flat, and stretches from the alluvial Po Plain into the Apennine Mountains; the highest point in the metropolitan city is the peak of Corno alle Scale in the commune of Lizzano in Belvedere, at 1945 m above sea level. The municipality with the lowest average altitude is Molinella which is 8 metres above sea level. The municipality with the highest average altitude is Monghidoro 841 metres above sea level.

The metropolitan city of Bologna includes south-eastern Emilia and seven municipalities whose territory is entirely included in the historical-geographical region of Romagna: Borgo Tossignano, Casalfiumanese, Castel del Rio, Dozza, Fontanelice, Imola and Mordano. The provincial territory extends mainly across plains and hills. The mountain occupies 21.3% of the province, against a regional average of 25%, and is divided between the Bolognese Apennines and the Imola Apennines.

The main rivers that cross the territory are the Reno (211 km), which collects almost all the waters of the Bolognese area, the Santerno (85 km), the Idice (77 km), the Sillaro (66 km), the Savena (54 km), the Samoggia (53 km) and the Setta (river) (40 km). Worthy of note for its particularity is the Dardagna torrent, the only river in the territory of the metropolitan city which, flowing into the Panaro, is part of the Po water basin.

In the extensive hill system, two ridges stand out which are located transversally to the main valleys: the Pliocene Buttress and the Chalk Vein. Characteristic are the gullies, hilly formations dug by the flow of rain on the clayey slopes of different densities, present along the Chalk Vein on the hills from Reggio nell'Emilia to the province of Rimini.

Natural areas
The flora and fauna heritage of the metropolitan area is managed through a system represented by 21 protected areas and 31 sites of community importance. The total surface area in October 2004 amounted to 710.684 acres (equal to 19.36% of the provincial surface area). Inside the Metropolitan city of Bologna are present 5 Regional Parks (Corno alle Scale, Gessi Bolognesi and Calanchi dell'Abbadessa, Monte Sole, Monteveglio Abbey, Suviana and Brasimone Lake), 2 Provincial Parks (Montovolo, La Martina), 1 Nature Reserve (Countrafforte Nature Reserve Pliocene), 13 Ecological Rebalancing Areas (ARE). Furthermore, 70 different species among those listed in Annex I of the "Birds" Directive have been registered in the area.

Economy
The driving sectors of the regional economy are: agriculture (vegetables, cereals – the famous DOP potato from Budrio), breeding (pigs and cattle) and small and medium industry in the food, mechanical, ceramic and electronics.

In the motor sector, companies such as motorcycle manufacturing company Ducati, luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese Lamborghini (The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi), Italian bicycle, scooter and motorcycle company based in San Lazzaro di Savena Malaguti, the italian headquarters of Volvo, Saab Italia, motorcycle manufacturer Moto Morini (from 1937 to 2014), and bus manufacturer BredaMenarinibus are based here. In the metalworking sector there are Malossi, Marzocchi, Paioli, Minarelli, Viro, while in the electronic machinery and automatic machines sector, Saeco, Datalogic, Beghelli, FAAC, IMA, SACMI, Marchesini.

Among the highly relevant agri-food industries in Bologna we find: in the food sector Granarolo, Fabbri, Segafredo Zanetti, Montenegro, Valsoia, the Conserve Italia consortium (to which the Cirio, Yoga, Valfrutta, Derby Blue and Jolly Colombani), Eridania, Alcisa, Cremino maker Majani, Carpigiani, Cerelia Acqua Minerale, as well as the national offices of the food cooperatives Coop (Italy), Conad and Sigma, SISA and Despar.

In recent years, numerous start-ups in the field of information and communication technologies have been created in the Emilian capital.

Of note are the activities of the Bologna Fair, where international events are organised, the infrastructure of the Bologna Interport for the loading and unloading of goods arriving in containers from the port of Ravenna and the Centergross of Funo, founded in 1977 and a of the major commercial citadels of Europe.