Un intervento "straordinario". Politiche industriali e trasformazioni urbane nel Molise del secondo '900

After the II World War the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno and the promulgation of the Pastore Law (no. 634/1957) were emblematic of assisted economic and territorial development policies. Starting from the end of the Seventies, due to the State’s incentives marginal and decentralized area that were still weakly industrialized became central in the strategies developed by some big companies which relocated their productions to Italy’s southern regions. The comparison between different experiences of industrialization is the goal of our research project, which aims to evaluate the effect of public policies and investments on the economic-territorial development processes of the Adriatic regions. This paper investigates the impact these policies had on Molise. In particular we analyze how the Nucleo Industriale in the Biferno Valley influenced the economic and demographic dynamics of the area and consequently the characteristics of the nearest settlements. In this respect, Molise’s case is emblematic of how the development policies for the Mezzogiorno opened many opportunities even in marginal and substantially backward areas, such as the post-war Molise, but they also left many open problems.