Una rivoluzione attesa e mai realizzata. Note per un approccio geografico alle politiche per il Mezzogiorno

Since the national unification, one of the main challenges of Italian cohesion policy is the “southern issue”, namely the severe lagging of southern regions, which still affects development of national economy. Policy makers tried to solve the problem with different approaches, characterized by different cultural views, moving from a centralist vision to a regionalist one.During the last decades, many policies were approved in order to face the issue, from the establishment of “Cassa del Mezzogiorno” to the drawing up of “Progetto 80”, the introductory report of the national economic program for 1971-75. However, these welfare policies were essentially unable to radically change the local power structure, which still represents the greater obstruction to modernization of economic and social system towards European integration. According to Salvemini and Compagna, in facts, “nothing, but a reform of general policy” is needed in order to overcome the severe development delay, because Southern regions lagging is mainly a national policy issue.The contribution aims to offer a geographical overview of policies related to Mezzogiorno issue: starting from literature, main policy approaches will be analyzed, with a particular attention to a comparative analysis of territorial cohesion policies addressed to lagging regions in Italy and in Europe. Finally, it will analyze latest political approaches by Italian institutional bodies deputed to the Territorial Cohesion development, underlining the importance of territorial cohesion intended as territorial set of values, and highlighting the centrality of territorial capital in a place evidence approach essential for a long-term solution of the issue.