Riflessioni preliminari sul rapporto tra innovazione, tradizione e sviluppo locale: lo spazio adriatico e l’immaginario di frontiera

The article represents a theoretical interpretation of the changing notions of progress and development in the so called Adriatic space. Particularly, it aims to connect the processes of social innovation with the emergence of new cultural representations of the territory that enabled a “reversed” imaginary. That is to say, an imaginary where innovation is based on the recovery of tradition and not on its transformation. In this regards, the main assumption is that after the 90s the Adriatic regions of Central Italy have progressively developed a Mediterranean frontier identity, which has substituted the previous provincial/peripherical self-representations. As a result, the coastal areas of Central Italy “discovered” the economic and political opportunities coming from new relations with the countries beyond the coastline (i.e. former Yugoslav countries) . Consequently, the same regions have managed to challenge the traditional subordintation towards the Northern and Western urban centres of Italy by enacting a new geo-political and geo-economic centrality focused on the Adriatic frontier. In this context, the revival of local identities have been performed within a renewed Adriatic framework, which set the stage for their legitimation in a larger Mediterranean cultural space. In the conclusive part, Emilio Cocco reflects critically on the implications of such social and cultural processes and, considering the “material” dimension of local development in the Central regions of Italy, suggests that the “frontier imaginary” could be nothing more than a wishful thinking. In other words, the expections of “innovation thorugh tradition” risk to remain only dreams if the same regions won’t develop their infrastructures, their administrative performances and their overall business environment