Unity in Variety. Employment Dynamics and Specialisation Profiles of Medium-Sized Towns in the Asti-Rovigo Area, Italy (2001–2017)
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QUAESTIONES GEOGRAPHICAE 39(4) • 2020 UNITY IN VARIETY. EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS AND SPECIALISATION PROFILES OF MEDIUM-SIZED TOWNS IN THE ASTI-ROVIGO AREA, ITALY (2001–2017) MARIA ANTONIETTA CLERICI Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Polytechnic University of Milan Manuscript received: September 26, 2020 Revised version: November 10, 2020 CLERICI M.A., 2020. Unity in variety. Employment dynamics and specialisation profiles of medium-sized towns in the Asti-Rovigo area, Italy (2001–2017). Quaestiones Geographicae 39(4), Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań, pp. 5–22. 6 tables, 5 figs. ABSTRACT: We still know relatively little about the processes of economic transformation in medium-sized towns, which are the cornerstone of the settlement system of many rural areas, together with small towns. This paper considers a group of 39 towns in Northern Italy, located in the area between Asti and Rovigo. Using data from the Italian National Institute of Data Statistics (ISTAT), we investigated the dynamics of the number of the employed at businesses in the periods of 2001–2011 and 2012–2017, the different specialisations of the towns and their ability to attract employees within the respective employment areas. Locally differentiated performance and evolutionary trajectories are evident, preventing us from being able to think of medium-sized (but also small) towns as a coherent whole. It is also clear how the drive towards centralising employees in towns increased following the Great Recession. KEYWORDS: medium-sized towns, small towns, rural areas, employment, economic specialisation, employment areas Corresponding author: Maria Antonietta Clerici, Polytechnic University of Milan, School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy; e-mail: [email protected] Introduction pave the way for fewer regional imbalances (Bell, Jayne 2009; Demazière 2017). The importance Globalisation was the triumph of cities (Glaeser of MSTs and small towns is even more evident 2011). However, metropolitan areas – key hubs in the European Union (EU): non-metropolitan for the competitiveness of national economies regions, which can rely only on these kinds of and on the front line in the quest for a sustaina- towns, attract 41% of the population and gener- ble development model – have attracted the most ate 32% of the total GDP (Eurostat 2016). They attention from academics and the mass media. have performed well, even in the face of the Great Urban studies of recent decades, dominated by a Recession, contradicting the ‘bigger is better’ nar- metrocentric perspective, have shown very little rative diffused by the New Economic Geography interest in medium-sized towns (MSTs), despite (Camagni et al. 2015; David et al. 2013; Dijkstra et the fact that, along with small towns housing al. 2013; Dijkstra et al. 2015). large populations and contributing to the rein- The development dynamics of MSTs and their forcement of a polycentric spatial structure, they specific role in urban networks are a research © 2020 Author(s) This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution license https://doi.org/10.2478/quageo-2020-0034 ISSN 0137-477X, eISSN 2081-6383 6 MARIA ANToNIETTA CLERICI question that is still relevant and under dis- However, they have received increasing atten- cussion to this day. It is not easy to study these tion in recent years, primarily in response to a towns, given their diverse settlement situations, political debate focusing on metropolitan are- socio-economic profiles and evolutionary trajec- as (established in 2014) and inland areas, both tories (ESPoN 2014). Their ‘regional capitals’ are recipients of significant public funding (IFEL different from those of large cities and this inevi- 2019; Mecenate 90 2020). MSTs have support- tably shapes their destiny. We generally associate ed Italy’s economic development – especially in MSTs with a better quality of life, a strong sense the regions of the north-east-centre – and have of identity, greater social cohesion and care for also demonstrated their viability over recent the environment. However, they are also caught years. According to Burgalassi et al. (2016), be- in the cross-fire. on the one hand, they compete tween 2001 and 2011, they drove the growth of with the metropolitan centres, magnets for crea- national employment more than the large cities tivity, culture and knowledge, which play a key did. Faggian et al. (2018) also highlighted the re- role in the current economic development model. sistance to the 2009–2010 recession of many em- on the other, they grapple with the dynamic na- ployment areas hinged on MSTs. However, we ture of small towns, which have gained greater cannot make generalisations: we need to examine importance (including in politics) in urban net- individual regions. works, thanks to their ability to attract decentral- The paper investigates the role of MSTs in ter- ised housing and businesses away from the main ritorial development processes, considering the hubs. Moreover, the rationalisation of public ser- case of a vast rural area of the Po Valley mega- vices, in connection with the austerity policies lopolis that is subordinate to large urban agglom- launched by national governments after the 2008 erations in that area (Mainardi 1997; Turri 2000). economic crisis, penalised many MSTs, which It focuses on job dynamics in the private sector, were affected by a decline in employment in ac- a primary indicator of the viability of cities. The tivities of historic importance for them. However, evolutionary trajectories of the medium-sized MSTs cannot be considered as a unitary category, and small towns dotted throughout the study with a destiny linked solely to their intermedi- area are investigated in a period of hardship for ate position in the urban system. Size poses con- the Italian economy (2001–2017), during which straints, but we need to consider the links each the gaps between territories widened, even in city has to the local community, their location in Italy’s most developed regions. More specifical- more or less dynamic regions, with a specific pro- ly, there are three research questions. Are there duction structure, as well as the web of relations any differences in performance to the benefit of that connects each town to its geographical sur- MSTs, and are such differences long-lasting? Are roundings (Cattan, Saint-Julien 1999; Adam 2006; the towns more closely linked to industry – of Servillo et al. 2017). which there are many in the study area – grap- Against this general backdrop, this essay pling with greater hardship, as is the case in considers a group of 39 towns in Northern Italy, other countries? Are the towns taken into con- located in the area between Asti and Rovigo, sideration major centres within their respective delving into their employment dynamics in the employment areas? period of 2001–2017. The area lies across four of Cities are the driving force of macro-regions, the most developed regions on a national and but we must not overlook what is happening in European scale: Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia- smaller towns. We need to study the characteris- Romagna and Veneto. It is a predominantly flat tics and evolutionary trajectories of the individual area, with a low population density, home to 24 types of towns making up the macro-regions, be- MSTs and 15 small towns, all centres of employ- cause these affect overall economic performance ment areas (Sistemi locali del lavoro). and regional cohesion. The paper also calls into Studies on MSTs have not traditionally been question the idea, still prevalent in Italy, that carried out in Italy as they have in countries MSTs are a unitary category. Even if we consider such as France and Spain, where, since the 1970s, only provincial capitals that are not metropolitan MSTs have become a specific area of study (and cities established in 2014, the towns we find (93) have even inspired ad hoc policies in France). are very diverse in terms of production structure, UNITy IN VARIETy. EMPLoyMENT DyNAMICS and specialisatioN PRoFILES oF MEDIUM-SIzED ToWNS 7 performance and local networks of relations. structure. All this is also recalled in the Lleida Unfortunately, all this is sidelined in the current Declaration (1999) and Chefchaouen Declaration debate. Instead, there is mention of a unitary pol- (2018), originating from international congress- icy supporting the club of MSTs, in a bid to offset es1 aimed at drawing attention to the roles and the strength of metropolitan centres (IFEL 2019). potential of a group of towns that are generally The paper is divided into two parts. Part one overlooked by decision makers. reflects on the importance of MSTs in the settle- The focus on polycentricity in EU territorial ment system and their diverse profiles, which policies, as a means of mitigating competitiveness pave the way for different evolutionary trajecto- and cohesion, has resulted in growing attention ries. Part two is the case study. This focuses on 39 being paid to MSTs, even if policies directly sup- cities, selected using a population criterion. The porting them have been lacking. The Green Paper analysis concerns not only MSTs but also small on territorial cohesion (EC 2008) underlines how towns to gain a better understanding of the spe- these towns create diversity in the EU – a value cific behaviour of MSTs. We will address three to be preserved – and are fundamental for bal- research questions: employee dynamics in local anced territorial development. This is especially units (private business) in the periods of 2001– the case in intermediate and rural regions, where 2011 and 2012–2017; specialisation profiles of the they provide services and jobs that contribute to towns and how they have changed over time; re- a good quality of life locally, stemming depopu- organisation of relations on a local scale, between lation.