Sandro Fabbro and Marco Dean on "Regional development strategies: the role of infrastructures and transport. The case of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in the wider Northeastern Italian macroregion"

1. Input 2012
Cagliari, 10th-12th May 2012
Regional development
strategies: the role of
infrastructures and transport.
The case of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in the
wider Northeastern Italian macroregion
Prof. Sandro Fabbro - Ing. Marco Dean
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture
University of Udine

2. Paper contents and objectives
The paper analyzes the transport infrastructure planning,
in the FVG region, in the context of the North
Adriatic logistic system.
Starting from the situation of this small but nodal region,
the paper argues the necessity, for Italy, to radically
restructure its policies in this sector.
For achieving this aim, it seems necessary, first of all, to
rethink the national planning. In particular the
National Logistcs Plan (2006 and 2010) and the
Strategic National Framework (2007-2013) are two
frameworks which seem not anymore adequate to
relaunch Italy in the context of the TEN-T networks.

3. Towards a new Normal?
In the World:
Prosecution of growth in the BRICS countries;
More attention regarding the search for better models of
production, consumption, transportation, redistribution.
In Europe:
Prosecution of the economic and financial crisis;
Decline of demand and production if not recession
Less public resources for big investment programs
Serious difficulties in the carrying on of the European
construction model.

4. Despite the favorable
European logistic scenarios…
(fonte: T. Notteboom (2010) “Concentration and the formation of multi-port gateway regions in the
European container port system: an update”, Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 18, no. 4).

5. the Italian current situation…
The Italian ports serve only
local markets (Isofort, 2011).
While the Northern Range
ports remain the only ones
able to serve the whole
Europe.

6. seems not adequate to relaunch
the national economy
During the last decade, in spite of the remarkable
developement of the maritime trade in the Mediterranean, the
freight traffic in the Italian ports Sea, is increased slightly.
This has been caused by:
stagnation of the national economy;
“bottlenecks” and several other transport problems;
lack of coordination among the too many ports and freight
villages;
inadequacy of the national planning instruments (NL,
84/94, NLP 2006, SNF 2007-2013 ecc.) to be selective
concerning the identification of few priority areas and
nodes on which to focus investment and allow, to the most
competitive companies, to manage the logistic services.

7. Let’s try to think optimistically.
A post-crisis scenario (2030)
If the Italian gateways of
the North Adriatic and
the North Tyrrhenian
were adequately
developed, they would
be able to become
complementary with the
Northern Range
gateways.

8. Central and Northern Europe: the
shift of the European Blu Banana
towards est
Traslazione dei sistemi
produttivi e logistici
verso il Centro-Est
Europa (previsioni al
2030)
North
North Adriatic
Tirrenian Ports The Blue Banana
Ports Fenomeni di
decentralizzazione
produttiva da parte di
imprese dei Paesi più
sviluppati

9. The Mediterranean sea: The ports
with potetialities of growth
Ogni porto europeo punterà, per crescere, ad intercettare traffici euro-asiatici, soprattutto in esportazione dall'Europa.
Lasciare il primato ai porti del Nord Europa o ad altre rotte via terra, significa perdere una occasione storica per l’Italia
North Adriatic
Port System
Container ports that
will increase their
capacities
Direct call ports
(structurally more stable)
Transhipment ports
(subject to a strong
competition even on minor
variations in the port costs)

10. The Strategic role of North East Italy
between Gateway and Corridors
The North East Italy system’s
(Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia
and Trentino Alto Adige)
represents one of the main
crossroads between the EU
corridors on the south part of
Alps. It also represents not only a
fundamental course to and from
Eastern countries but also to the
whole Mediterranean countries
thanks to it’s access to the sea.

11. THE IMPORTANCE OF NORTH EAST ITALY
Population On GDP On
(1’000) total (Million €) total
Veneto 4.886 8,1% € 141.530 9,3%
Friuli Venezia
1.231 2,1% € 34.856 2,3%
Giulia
Trentino 1.019 1,7% € 33.436 2,2%
North-East 7.135 11,9% € 209.822 13,8%
Italy 60.045 100,0% € 1.520.871 100,0%
Source: ISTAT, 2009 data

12. The paradox of the Logistic
Platform of North-East
The Friuli Venezia Giulia
Region represents, due
to its geographical
position, a “Natural
Logistic Platform”. It is in
fact located at the
crossroad of two
fundamental European
corridors: the Adriatic-
Baltic Corridor along the
N-S directrix (the green
line) and the Corridor V
on the E-W directrix (the
blu line).

13. The paradox
of the Logistic
Platform of
North-East
The new Logistic
National Plan of 2010
seems to be only a
partially reworking of
the LPN, 2006
LPN, 2006

14. The Strategic Territorial Platforms of the
Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and
Transport (2007)
Ancora nel 2007 (Strategic National Framework (2007-2013) la “PL di Nord Est”
si reggeva essenzialmente su un Corridoio (il C. 5) che da Venezia a Trieste non esiste
ed ancora meno esiste da Trieste a Lubiana. E si dimenticava del Corridoio Adriatico-
Baltico.
.

15. Why to insist on a non-existing new infrastructure
(the AC/AV new railway of the Corr.5) and
forgetting the already existing one?
Even in FVG, both the PRITML, Regione Autonoma FVG, 2011
Piano Territoriale
Regionale (2007) and the
Regional Plan for
Infrastructures and
Logistic (2011), are
neglecting or
underestimating the role
of the railway already
realized, with great
efforts, during the
Ninetines and that is
beeing in operation since
the 2000.

16. Finally…
in the New TEN-T
priorities (2012), the
«forgotten» railway
becomes the priority n. 1

17. Why to give such a role
to a inexistent
infrastructure and to
forget the already
existing one?
The answer can be
probably looked for in
the so called “strategic
misrepresentation” that
is a very serious, but
not rare, disease in
planning and
programming.
(Flyvbjerg B., Bruzelius N. and
Rothengatter W. (2003),
Megaprojects and Risk – An
Anatomy of Ambition,
Cambridge University Press).
were?

18. Towards a new framing of the
Logistic Platform of North-East
The acknowledgment of
the Adriatic-Baltic
Corridor in the new
TEN-T network and its
completion, could
allow to the North
Adriatic ports (which
today are being
involved by important
development
programs) to play the
role of an European
Gateway towards the
Central and Eastern
European markets.

19. The Adriatic-Baltic Corridor as the concrete and
more timely alternative to the corridor 5.
GATEWAY
ALTO ADRIATICO
GATEWAY ALTO
TIRRENO

20. Rethinking the Platforms of
the LNP and the SNF
Adriatic-Baltic
Corridor 1
Corridor (N.1
in the Core
Corridor 24 Network of the
new TEN-T,
2012)
Corridor V
The Blue Banana of
nowedays
The future Blu
Banana
Relocation of
production towards
the East of Europe

21. Conclusion on the Case Study
Direct observations and implications:
According to this case study, the national logistics
planning and programming has, in the last decade,
neglected important existing infrastructures. On the
contrary, the post-crisis programming needs a deep
change prioritizing the corridor sections which are
actually able to produce, in a shorter term,
economic benefits (as the Adriatic-Baltic corridor).

22. Conclusions
Direct but more general implications:
This case obliges to rethink the infrastructure and logistic
strategies at the regional as well as at the National level.
National as well as regional Plans have to be revised
introducing the «European Gateway ports” category;
Infrastructural priorities are to be reconsidered in
accordance with this macro-objective.
Before the provision of new infrastructures, priority has
to be given to: a. the optimization of the existing
transport infrastructures; b. the elimination of the
bottleneks; c. the connection of the already existing
corridors with the secondary regional networks;
Finally, in the transport and logistic sector, a real open
market has to be guaranteed in order to give, to the
most competitive companies, the possibility to manage
ports and networks and consequently to reduce the
costs.

23. Thank you
for your attention!