As cities expand into metropolitan regions they inevitably push up against, produce, otherwise engage, and sometimes engulf already established settlements on their peripheries. Rome, for instance, is surrounded by a corona, or crown, of some thirty-eight other commune, or municipalities. Similarly, most metropolitan areas in the United States, like Boston, also consist of several dozen separate communities in conjunction with the larger city itself. Although perhaps not so fragmented, Barcelona is comprised of the city and some dozen or two dozen separate communities depending upon how the metropolitan area is defined. Designated cities in China, almost by definition, are expansiveand crowded out on their peripheries by smaller towns and villages that have also become the loci of considerable recent political attention. Seen from the perspective of useful differences rather than inclusiveness and similarity, these realities can be regarded as complementary in character, potentially incorporating lifestyle diversity in a region, comprised of high levels of social capital, and potentially better levels of environmental amenity.