From Marginal Areas to Central Contexts: Rethinking the Pre-Alpine Areas in Lombardy, Starting with Production Spaces

This paper revisits and explores one of the themes investigated during the broader research project “Analysis and strategic scenarios for inland areas of Lombardy” conducted by a team of researchers, including the two authors, from the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Politecnico di Milano. The project analysed 14 areas included by the Lombardy Region in the 2021-27 European programming cycle. They are explored here specifically considering the significant presence of manufacturing activities and spaces, currently undergoing transformation, in the pre-Alpine valleys of Lombardy. Often capable of draining the population from the highlands, but also of providing them with supra-local facilities and services, the pre-Alpine areas are also characterised by low altitude, mobility infrastructure, and rich natural capital, which is often undervalued. Pre-Alpine areas combine traditional and emerging production, with both small, medium-sized and large businesses, including the presence of dynamic and innovative multinationals. This paper relates these different activities and their spaces to the more general development of the territories, and of the quality of life and work in these mountain contexts, framing them in relation to the rapidly changing economic geography of Northern Italy. Furthermore, the study describes the current and potential role of the pre-Alpine areas with their intermediate location between the inland mountain areas and the metropolitan areas at the foot of the mountains. They are studied in the context of a territorial rebalancing process at both regional and provincial level adopted to support some areas and decongest others. Final recommendations suggest how the “desirability” of pre-Alpine contexts can be increased by adopting strategic plans. In the face of the climate crisis, these could provide attractive living and working environments where development and environmental protection can be combined. Disused production spaces and those undergoing expansion can play an important role within this framework, if they are redesigned in a sustainable manner, and integrated into the environmental networks of the mountain landscape.