Industrial district

Also, the notion that firms located in geographical proximity benefit from agglomeration effects in having a common or collective infrastructure is frequently mentioned as one of the main bases in the industrial district literature.

Since the 1980s, the dynamic industrial development in NEC (North, East and Centre) of Italy, where after the Second World War geographical concentration of specialised small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) raised up, led to an increasing attention to the Marshall' seminal works.

Industrial districts in Italy have a coherent location and a narrow specialisation profile, e.g. Prato in woollen fabric, Sassuolo in ceramic tiles or Brenta in ladies' footwear.

The success of SME-based Italian districts in the last century and the alternate fortunes of the current ones led to investigate more thoroughly some related aspects.

In the Industry 4.0 era, the specialised capabilities of these areas seem to have the possibility to encourage the emergence of the New Artisans, Maker in the context of adapted models like the "ID mark 3.0".

Partizánske in Slovakia – an example of a typical planned industrial city founded in 1938 together with a shoemaking factory in which practically all adult inhabitants of the city were employed.
Industrial district of Perm