Speaker
Description
Logistics is increasingly central to the functioning of contemporary capitalism, intertwining supply chains, infrastructure corridors and distribution centres. Although it is often associated with the movement of flows and global connectivity, logistics also consists of settlements - such as freight villages, hubs and warehouses - that have a spatial, economic, and social footprint with a profound impact and transformation on territories (Danyluk, 2021; Hesse, 2020; Cowen, 2014). As in many other parts of Europe, logistics settlements have mushroomed in recent years in Italy’s areas of extended urbanisation (Schmid & Topalovic, 2023). This is particularly visible in Northern Italy, the most infrastructurally and economically dense part of the country, occupying mainly agricultural land and brownfield sites along major infrastructure corridors (SNPA, 2024) and revealing complex tensions between global economic imperatives and thriving local socio-spatial conditions (Armondi et al., 2024).
Despite the critical importance of logistics, governance and planning frameworks often lag behind the rapid growth of logistics settlements (Charters-Gabanek et al., 2024). At the European level, sectoral and technocratic policies emphasise the rationalisation of flows rather than addressing the spatial, social, and environmental consequences of new logistics hubs. In Italy, national and regional legislation remains in the background, with some attempts at coordination committees and recent regional directives, maintaining governance gaps that are easily exploited by powerful international private actors in the real estate and logistics sectors. This has led to a patchwork of locally negotiated agreements that not only circumvent but also deeply alter long-term urban and regional planning objectives.
This contribution explores these complexities through a critical reading of the governance and planning mechanisms at work in the Verona area, which is the crossroads between the Scandinavian-Mediterranean and Mediterranean TEN-T corridors and one of the most emblematic cases of logistics proliferation in Italy over the last decade (Armondi & Galimberti, 2024). With the help of transcalar maps, diagrams, and short videos, this work critically examines the plans and collects testimonies from mayors, regional planning officials, freight village directors, real estate developers, designers, actors from logistics companies, trade unions and local communities. The aim is to examine recent negotiation processes for the installation of logistics hubs and their spatial, economic, and social impacts. What governance and planning gaps emerge in these processes? What are the power relations between the actors? What conflicts and resistance from below? These are some of the questions that the presentation will address, trying to learn from governance failures and exploring unexpected alliances between actors to repair territories.
This presentation is part of a broader, ongoing research project “New Italian Geographies of Logistics” (tr.acking.it) that critically maps and studies the geographies of logistics’ proliferations in Italy. In particular, this presentation and the overall project are financially supported under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.1, Call for tender No. 104 published on 02/02/2022 by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU – Project Title: Italian Geographies - New Italian Geographies of Logistics. Between global challenges and policy responses – Project ID: 2022TRFAA5 - CUP: D53D23011390006 – Grant Assignment Decree No. 0001109 adopted on 20/07/2023 by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
References
Armondi, Simonetta, Stefano Di Vita, Beatrice Galimberti (2024) Geografie operazionali nel Nord Italia. Figurazioni e strategie spaziali. Milan: FrancoAngeli.
Armondi, Simonetta, Beatrice Galimberti (2024) Logistics City-Regions in Transition: New Spatial Imaginaries in Spain and Italy. RSA Regions. [Online] available at: https://regions.regionalstudies.org/ezine/article/logistics-city-regions-issue20/
Charters-Gabanek, Kamilah, Nicolas Raimbault, Peter V. Hall (2024) Logistics and Urban Planning: A Review of Literature. Journal of Planning Education and Research. [Online] available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0739456X241247838
Cowen, Deborah (2014) The deadly life of logistics: Mapping violence in global trade. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Danyluk, Martin (2021) Supply-chain urbanism: Constructing and contesting the logistics city. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 111(7), pp.2149–2164.
Hesse, Markus (2020). Logistics: Situating flows in a spatial context. Geography Compass, 14(7), pp.1-15
SNPA (2024) Consumo di suolo, dinamiche territoriali e servizi ecosistemici. Edizione 2024, Report ambientali SNPA, 43/2024. [Online] available at: https://www.snpambiente.it/temi/suolo/consumo-di-suolo-dinamiche-territoriali-e-servizi-ecosistemici-edizione-2024/
Schmid, Christian, Milica Topalovic (eds.) (2023) Extended Urbanisation: Tracing Planetary Struggles. Basel: Birkhäuser.
| Keywords | logistics; Italy; governance and planning practices |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
