The Tekne plan for the industrial development area in Taranto

The case of Taranto is peculiar for the reason that the construction of the fourth Italsider national steel plant was started at the beginning of the 1960s. The government’s decision to build this industrial unit in Taranto preceded the foundation of the consortium for the industrial development area (Area di sviluppo industriale - Asi) and was the principal topic of Asi territorial Plan. This Plan was drafted, between 1960 and 1962, by the Tekne engineering company, with the collaboration of Giovanni Astengo and Giorgio Fuà. The author looks at this experience, which is considered paradigmatic, from two different point of view. From one hand there are the role and the tools of urban planning compared to development processes. On the other hand, the author analyzes the difficulties and uncertainties of the mechanism for industrial development areas in Southern Italy. The analysis of the plan concerns the following issues: the crucial distinction between forecast and goals of development, which influenced the investments to be financed in order to provide the industrial areas (this topic is the origin of the discussion on the meaning and function of the "prospective plan"); the proposal of a settlement pattern, which expresses some ideas about the relationships between social structure, spatial arrangements, uses of the land and possible models for industrial development. In the conclusions these topics are analyzed by examining the ways through which the plan was carried out.

Keywords: Taranto Italsider national steel plant Asi territorial plan Commission for the territorial plans for industrial development areas Settlement patterns

Nicla Dattomo, Il Piano Tekne per l’Area di sviluppo industriale di Taranto in "STORIA URBANA " 130/2011, pp , DOI: 10.3280/SU20011-130006