Structural change and agency in territorial development: the case of mature industrial districts

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on combinations of structural and agency conditions in mature industrial districts that face contemporary challenges potentially disrupting their traditional paths. These districts need to adopt new forms and paths of territorial development. Specifically, we aim to enhance the comprehension of combinations that either support or hinder rerouting to new forms and paths. We propose a conceptual framework of structural change, inner heterogeneity and agency that builds on related streams of regional and territorial development studies. We apply it to a contemporary Italian industrial district. Finally, some suggestions regarding the strategic actors involved in good territorial governance emerge.

KEYWORDS:

• phases of territorial development
• mature industrial districts
• territorial governance
• Prato (Italy)

JEL:

• L26
• O18
• R11

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The case study enjoyed the support of many local actors, providing data, facts, views and suggestions, and some results were discussed in various events organized by local entities. A sincere thanks to all of them. A specific acknowledgment concerns the guest editor of this special issue and the anonymous referees, who have supported with their advice the improvement of the paper. Of course, the responsibility for the contents and for any remaining deficiency of the final version falls on the authors only.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Prato ‘province’ (NUTS-3 level, with some territorial government functions) was established in 1992. Its territory largely corresponds to a quite stable local labour system.

2. Firm and worker data originate from the VI Italian Census of Industry and Services (https://www4.istat.it/it/censimento-industria-e-servizi).

3. Overall, 15 in-depth interviews were realized between January 2018 and January 2019. The first round concerned representatives of local institutions; further interlocutors were identified according to a snowballing sampling scheme.

4. The number of local district textile units dropped from 11,131 in 1981 to 6993 in 1991, 4775 in 2001 and 2408 in 2011. Meanwhile, the number of textile workers diminished from 48,752 in 1981 to 34,210 in 1991, 31,171 in 2001 and 15,908 in 2011. According to ISTAT's Archivio Statistico Imprese Attive (ASIA) archive data, in 2018 the number of Prato textile firms was 2014 and the number of textile workers was 15,104 (https://www4.istat.it/it/censimento-industria-e-servizi; and http://dati.istat.it/).

5. ASIA archive data. The identification of KIBS activities used by the European Commission (2012) has been applied. Since ASIA archive data refer to the Classificazione delle Attività Economiche (ATECO) 2007 classification, the ATECO2012–ATECO2007 correspondence table was used.

6. In the same year, at the national level, the shares of local manufacturing units and workers were 8.8% and 21.5%, respectively.

7. See http://statistica.comune.prato.it/.

8. See http://statistica.comune.prato.it/.

9. Most of the local Chinese immigrants have no voting rights.

10. In the last local elections, two citizens of Chinese origin were elected as members of the city council.

11. See www.pratocircularcity.it/en/pagina1486.html; and www.cittadiprato.it/en/.

Additional information

Funding

The authors express their gratitude to the Municipality of Prato and to PIN Prato for a research grant in memory of Professor Giacomo Becattini, in 2018 on the industrial district of Prato, which allowed them to set up the empirical basis of this paper [PIN S.c.r.l. – Servizi Didattici e Scientifici per l’Università di Firenze].