Metropolitan to be redeveloped as shops, offices and 99-seater cinema.

Rome's former Metropolitan cinema site is to be redeveloped thanks to a public-private project agreed between the city and the property's owners DM Europa.

The redevelopment plan approved by the city will see the bulk of the property devoted to shops (1,800 sqm), with 50 sqm designated to office space, and 320 sqm set aside for a 99-seater cinema.

This represents a much reduced capacity compared to the expansive cinema which closed in 2010, despite protests and petitions, after almost a century.

The Metropolitan began in 1911 as the American Film Theatre, changing its name to the Metropolitan in 1948.

The cinema was one of a handful in the capital to screen films in their original English-language versions.