Between the 1970s and the 1990s, cities in Southern Europe experienced a progressive delocalisation of population, settlements and activities over larger regions. Economic downturns have increasingly influenced more recent waves of metropolitan growth, shaping differentiated patterns of urban change. While some cities evolved towards accelerated population dynamics in central districts responding to re-urbanisation impulses, other agglomerations were intrinsically bounded in a sort of ‘late suburbanisation’, with demographic shrinkage of both inner districts and rural areas, and uneven expansion of suburban population. By providing a comprehensive interpretation of the socioeconomic mechanisms underlying recent urban expansion, this study illustrates a diachronic analysis of population dynamics over multiple spatial scales and time frames in a metropolitan region of Southern Europe (Athens, Greece) between 1999 and 2019. Natural population balance was investigated vis à vis selected territorial indicators using descriptive, inferential and multivariate statistics. Results of the analysis identify different social forces underlying suburban population growth during economic expansion (2000s) and recession (2010s), evidencing a distinctive response of local communities to economic downturns that depends mostly on the background context (affluent versus disadvantaged neighbourhoods). Given the multiplicity of territorial dimensions involved in urban growth, our findings highlight how economic downturns distinctively shape metropolitan development based on locally differentiated demographic dynamics.

在 1970 年代和 1990 年代之间，南欧的城市经历了更大区域的人口、定居点和活动的逐步离地化。经济衰退越来越影响最近的大都市增长浪潮，塑造了城市变化的差异化模式。虽然一些城市因再城市化的推动而朝着中心区人口加速发展的方向发展，但其他城市群在本质上是一种“后期郊区化”，内城区和农村地区的人口萎缩，郊区人口的扩张不均衡。通过对近期城市扩张背后的社会经济机制进行全面解释，本研究说明了 1999 年至 2019 年间南欧大都市区（雅典、希腊）在多个空间尺度和时间范围内的人口动态历时分析。使用描述性、推理性和多元变量对选定的领土指标进行了自然人口平衡研究统计。分析结果确定了经济扩张（2000 年代）和经济衰退（2010 年代）期间郊区人口增长背后的不同社会力量，证明当地社区对经济衰退的独特反应主要取决于背景环境（富裕社区与弱势社区）。鉴于城市发展涉及的地域层面的多样性，