White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 4From an initial interpretation of thesefigures, it would seem that on aregional scale, despite the leadership ofLombardy in the design sector, wellinformedcompanies increasingly resortto professional designers, especially inregions where the model of industrialdevelopment is along district lines.We can thus infer that in these regionsthere is a need to integrate diffuseforms of design, typical of industrialdistricts, within a broader design actionelaborated by specialised professionalfigures able to interact with and involveindividual businesses in the district.The growing role of designers in theregions with a district-type productioncan also be explained by changes inindustrial districts from 1991 to 2001.An ISTAT survey (2005) of industrialdistricts reveals that their number inItaly had fallen overall by 156 in 2001.The causes of this reduction may beexplained either by the growing size ofthe manufacturing facilities which havetransformed districts into local workingsystems of medium to large companiesor a shift in the production structurestowards services for businesses whichalso include designer services.The specialisation of the industrialdistricts is confirmed as being thattypical of the export-driven sectors,which we can group in the followingcategories used by the ICE to highlighttheir competitiveness on internationalmarkets: food and beverage, personaland leisure items (which also includesfashion), household furnishings andmusical instrument mechanics (ICE,2006).Table 4.2 - Industrial district production specialisation and share of Italian exportsDistrict (2001) Export share (%)no. % 2001 2005Food and beverage 7 4.5 21.4 22.0Personal and leisure items 71 45.5 51.6 47.6House furnishings 32 20.5 38.6 38.6Instrument mechanics 46 29.5 28.2 27.8Total districts 156 100.0 38.1 35.6Source: our elaboration of ISTAT-ICE dataWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 109