The extensive and well-structured issue opens with two review articles: the first traces the use of the concept of metabolism in geographical thought, highlights its main variations, and concludes with a theoretical and methodological proposal. The second reflects on local tourism in light of the debate on the climate crisis and the decline in tourism, highlighting its potential and critical issues in terms of access to mobility and socio-environmental justice. This is followed by three empirical contributions. The first offers a legal geography interpretation of the relationship between Islamic places of worship, urban transformation and the role of the police, through the analysis of various disputes. The second reflects on the ecological and social impact of a new airport infrastructure in the Maldives, through a feminist approach and a focus on the daily experience of coconut rope makers. The third analyses collaborations between biotechnology companies and universities in the Heidner Biocluster in Norway, in light of two different models of innovation, reflecting in particular on the role of informal institutions and proximity relations.
The substantial Opinions and Debates section opens with a collective contribution dedicated to Italian-style literary geography, which questions its defining criteria and highlights a plurality of possible approaches and objects of analysis. The second commentary describes the Hackerare m0n0p0l1 project: an extension of the famous board game that modifies some of its elements to encourage critical reflection on the housing crisis and urban transformation. The section continues with two critical reviews: the first on the book La montagna, con altri occhi (The Mountain, with Different Eyes) by the AltraMontagna collective, and the second on Giorgio Bigatti's book Milano: matrici e metamorfosi di una capitale industriale (Milan: Matrices and Metamorphoses of an Industrial Capital). The issue closes with a forum dedicated to the research of Tommaso Fasciani, a young scholar who died prematurely in 2024, on the relationship between innovation, technology transfer, urban policies and regimes, and the case of Rome Technopole.