Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

PART I I I : REGION A L GEOGRAPHY
stimulus o f war and the active development o f hydro-electric power and the
strategic industries under fascism. Piedmont established herself firmly as one of
Italy’s major industrial zones.
The processing o f agricultural and forest products (wine, pasta, cheese, confectionery
and paper) is still one o f the region’s most important and most widely
distributed activities. In the building material sector, an industry whose distribution
is clearly related to the occurrence o f the raw material, the traditional and
widespread manufacture o f bricks and tiles has been joined by that o f cement
(Casale) and sanitary ware (Gattinara). The older branches of the textile industry
are represented in the silks o f Cuneo and Pinerolo and in the woollens of
the Biellese. Turin and VercelU manufacture synthetic fibres and Alessandria has
long been famous for felt hats (Borsalino).
The metallurgical sector, leaning heavily on the hydro-electric power of the
Alps and more recently on that o f the Po itself is concentrated at Turin, Novi
Ligure and Lesegno (steel), and at Borgofranco d’lvrea (aluminium). Novara
and Trecate, the former concerned mainly with nitric acid and fertilizers and the
latter with the refining o f oil piped from Savona, are Piedmont’s main chemical
centres. But the region’s high ranking in Italian industry depends overwhelmingly
on its engineering and in particular on the production o f motor vehicles. In this
sector Fiat o f Turin enjoys a dominating position in the countryj in 1965 the
company, which employs over 100,000 workers, produced over a million
vehicles, mainly at its Mirafiori plant. Fiat is also Italy’s foremost producer of
railway and marine engines, tractors, precision instruments and electric motors;
its other interests range from domestic appliances to autostrade, Alpine tunnels,
dam building and nuclear power. Lancia is also a Turin firm although its main
plant is now at Chivasso. Most o f the other enterprises o f Turin (e.g. rubber) and
o f the neighbouring townships o f the province (e.g. ball-bearings at Perosa) are
dangerously dependent on vehicle assembly for a market. Outside Turin the
most notable engineering centres are at Novara (C.G.E. electricals), Novi Ligure
and Ivrea; the last is almost entirely dependent on the fortunes o f Olivetti and,
like Turin itself, comes near to being a ‘company’ town.
It will be apparent that industry in the Piedmontese lowlands is localized in
one major zone and several lesser ones, notably in the provinces o f Vercelli and
Novara. Given the widespread availability o f water and the flexibility of electric
power, many industrialists since the war have sought to avoid the high land
prices and congestion near Turin by siting their new factories in the coimtryside
or in those towns whose functions remain principally those o f market and
administrative centres. An added advantage is that in such areas there is usually a
large number o f workers anxious to accept employment and there is little competition
for their services. In layout and architecture the older centres o f Piedmontese
towns bear a strong family resemblance; the rectangular street plan, the
spacious porticoed squares and the long apartment blocks o f almost barrack-like
severity seem to be in harmony with the traditional Piedmontese respect for
130