The present economic crisis follows three different dimensions in Spain: an economic dimension linked to the explosion of the construction bubble, a social dimension represented by the loss of confidence in public institutions and in traditional political parties, and a third dimension that questions the territorial model of governance. Spanish cities have already initiated processes of re-orientations, but those processes appear almost exclusively in terms of economic orientation towards a post-industrial and post-real estate models, but do not show any significant change in the spatial governance. Since the economic crisis has been reinforced by the governance framework, any institutional scenario post-crisis should consider not only the reorientation of the economy but should also re-think how the urban, regional, and national spaces are governed.

The new scenario post-crisis in Spanish cities, specifically in the case of Valencia, should involve not only an economic re-orientation to overcome the real estate bubble but also a re-orientation of the territorial and urban governance. In this paper it will be illustrated that the interaction of scales and multilevel governance is so far an unresolved matter. It will be asserted that Valencia and its region already show some preconditions, which are necessary to finally initiate a process of re-territorialisation of urban, metropolitan and regional governance. The proposal discussed is that the present crisis can create momentum for an urban transformation with new premises