Local production system and transport. The strategic role of the territory

After the crisis of Fordism, the Italian and international debate about economic and territorial development has focused attention on models that consider the territory as a determining factor and a differential value. During the Fifties and Sixties one of the most popular models of industrial localization was that of F. Perroux, which gave primacy to large enterprises able to determine, in undeveloped areas, the effects of development poles, agglomeration processes of enterprises, new enterprise and innovation. During the Seventies, processes of decentralization and urban production took place. In this period, the Industrial District Model (IDM) theorized by A. Marshall in the United Kingdom in the second half of the nineteenth century –was the preferred choice. The model proposed a centralisation of local small and medium-sized enterprises and a flexible specialization. This model was reconsidered in Italy, in the light of specific environmental conditions and gave rise to a heated debate during the Eighties and Nineties, which showed that the manufacturing processes themselves had developed very different dynamics and management in each local area. Nowadays, in relation to the Italian and the Made in Italy productive system crisis a greater awareness of the territorial context elements appeared. The latter are considered as weaknesses of the whole system, limiting the internationalization process, which is vital for the productive system. Among these factors there is the lack of a logistic and infrastructural network which represents the main development indicator. The article aims at highlighting on one hand the importance and value of the Industrial Districts and on the other hand assessing the infrastructure, in particular the transportation ones, and the logistics in relation to the territory, considering impacts and investments carried out, both from an internal and international point of view. The scenario is represented by the Italian Southern regions, considered as “vulnerable” and in particular by Apulia