The law number 634 issued in 1957, provided specific tools for the support of industrial development in the southern regions; in particular, it introduced some measu- res to realize "concentration zones" for the industrial ventures. In the following years, the measures were better specified, thanks to the institution, in the South, of Industrial Development Areas (Asi) and Nucleus of Industrialization (Ni). These institutions are the result of two important issues: the definition of a model for the development of the country, by following the principle of mixed economy, that is to say leaded capitalism; the elaboration of a geographical model for the allocation of national industry which includes a more balanced distribution of industries between Northern and Southern Italy and a reasonable relationship between "concentration" and "diffusion" of industries in the South. After an introduction dealing with the genealogy of the law and the role played, in its definition, by the Association for Southern Italy Industrial Development (Associazione per lo sviluppo industriale del Mezzogiorno - Svimez), the essay analyzes how the law was put into practice, also with relation to territorial planning.
Keywords: Law n. 634, July 29th 1957 Industrialization in Italy Cassa per il Mezzogiorno Industrial development areas