The technological car district in Piedmont: definitions, dynamic, policy

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The paper sets out to examine how the system of firms belonging to the automotive network situated in Piedmont has changed from an ‘industrial area’ dependent on Fiat to a ‘technological car district’ in general. Firstly (Section 2), the technological district is defined theoretically as the coexistence in an urban area of a system of inter- and intra-industrial relations; a science park, which is the concentration of research and development activities, and an industrialising pole; then the most important differences between an industrial district and a technological district are examined. On the applied side (Section 3) the transition from area to district is analysed in particular pointing out the importance of localised knowledge being spread throughout the territory. Section 4 deals with the possibility of adopting a local policy to favour the district. © 2001 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.