In 1949, The Rasiom petrochemical enterprise headed by Angelo Moratti builds an industrial plant in the northern area of Syracuse. It is the starting point of an accelerated process of industrialization that will produce the widest industrial petrochemical settlement in Italy. In just one decade Syracuse changes its demographic size because of the immigration of thousands of people mainly coming from the surrounding rural areas, and at the same time incomes and consumption grow rapidly. The local ruling class try to deal with the new processes and the reformulation of the traditional urban identity based on tourism and trades, in order to equip the city for the challenges associated with this social, cultural and economic "great transformation". The article analyses the years from the beginning of the industrial growth up to the beginning of the industrial crisis, highlighting the development urban strategies, the conflict between old and new models, the political classes’ answer to the question of development programs and the role of experts.
Keywords: Syracuse, Industrial Development, Urban Development, Economic Programs, Urban and Regional Planning