is in the Palazzo dei Normanni. Palermo's future seemed to look bright again. Unfortunately, many opportunities were lost in the coming decades, due to incompetence, incapacity, corruption and abuse of power. The main topic of the contemporary age is the struggle against the Mafia and bandits like Salvatore Giuliano, who controlled the neighbouring area of Montelepre. The Italian State had to share effective control, economic as well as the administrative, of the territory with the Mafiosi families. The so-called "Sack of Palermo" is one of the major visible faces of this problem. The term is used today to indicate the heavy building speculations that filled the city with poor buildings. The reduced importance of agriculture in the Sicilian economy had led to a massive migration to the cities, especially Palermo, which swelled in size. Instead of rebuilding the city centre the town was thrown into a frantic expansion towards the north, where practically a new town was built. The regulatory plan for the expansion was largely ignored. New parts of town appeared almost out of nowhere, but without parks, schools, public buildings, proper roads and the other amenities that characterise a modern city. the Mafia played a huge role in this process, which was an important element in the Mafia's transition from a mostly rural phenomenon into a modern criminal organisation. The Mafia took advantage of corrupt city officials (a former mayor of Palermo, Vito Ciancimino, has been condemned for his bribery with Mafiosi) and protection coming from the Italian central government itself. Many civil servants lost their life in the struggle against the criminal organisations of Palermo and Sicily. These include the Carabinieri general Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, the region's president Piersanti Mattarella, Pino Puglisi, a priest, and magistrates such as Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. The latter was killed, together with five members of his escort, in a massive car bombing in Via D'Amelio in Palermo, in July 1992. , this has been the last bloodbath in Palermo ordered by the Mafia. 21st century Today, Palermo is a city of 720,000 inhabitants still struggling to recover from the devastation of the Second World War and the damage caused by decades of uncontrolled urban growth. Situated on one of the most beautiful promontories of the Mediterranean, Palermo is an important trading and business centre and the seat of a university frequented by many students from Islamic countries, as the