Italian Industrialization

Initially concentrated in the vicinity of large cities, busy ports or sources of energy and raw materials, with the declining importance of agriculture, industry moved nearer smaller centres with adequate infrastructures, before spreading right into the countryside competing with agriculture for land and changing the face of the countryside. This is clearly not the case in every part of the country, and in fact in both the North and South the most highly industrialized and urbanized areas are mainly in the densely populated regions. The traditional industrial triangle (Lombardy-Liguria-Piedmont) has now widened to include practically the whole Po Valley, with highest concentrations along the foot of the Prealps, Preapennines and the Adriatic coast (Marghera, Ravenna etc.) as well as the large alpine valleys (Adige, Valcamonica). Industry in Tuscany and Umbria is concentrated on the plains and in hollows near the Arno and Tiber river basins; in the Marches it spreads over the whole region, scattered throughout the network of valleys. Industry in Latium and Abruzzo is concentrated in the intermontane hollows and along the coasts as well as round the chief city. The distribution of industry in Southern Italy, however, follows an irregular pattern, with excessive concentration in certain coastal zones (such as the Caserta-Naples-Caserta belt) or in a number of geographically favourable positions (the Bari-Taranto-Brindisi triangle). Industrial areas on the islands are generally peripherical and close to ports.