Transcript File - Carrigaline Community School Geography

Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
SECTION (2): CONTRASTING EUROPEAN REGIONS II:
THE MEZZOGIORNO
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
MEZZOGIORNO
Soils
• Thin upland soils as over half the land area of the region
is mountainous
• Richer soils are found on the densely populated coastal
plains
• Volcanoes of Vesuvius in the fertile plain of Campania and
around Mt Etna in Sicily
• Deep layer of alluvial soils deposited by rivers and soils
• Common soil in the region is Terra Rosa - a red soil
• Only suitable for growing vines – winemaking
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Climate
• Warm temperate climate also known as a Mediterranean
type climate
• Hot, sunny and dry summers with temperatures
averaging around 29ºC, influenced by a high pressure belt
from the Azores
• Dry stable weather conditions causing cloudless skies
• Rainfall is low as high pressure brings no fronts
• North-east trade winds that are dry
• Droughts in summertime
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Climate
• Winters in the Mezzogiorno are warm, mild and damp,
temperatures average around 11ºC
• South-west winds
• Rainfall averages between 500 and 900 mm
• East of the region is drier, approximately 400 mm of rain
• Rain shadow affect of the Apennine Mountains
• Convectional rainfall
• Influenced by the hot wind from the Sahara, the Sirocco
• Sardinia is affected by the cold mistral wind
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Relief and drainage
• The Apennines dominate the landscape of the
Mezzogiorno and 85 per cent of the region is classified as
upland, with 45 per cent as mountainous upland
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Alpine Fold Mountains
• Formed 30–35 million years ago and mainly consist of
limestone
• Coastal plains most productive areas of the region, e.g.
the Puglia lowlands
• Contain alluvial soils
• They contained swamps and marshes that were home to
mosquitoes carrying malaria
• The area is also affected by mudslides, earthquakes and
volcanoes as the region is tectonically active
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
Alpine Fold Mountains (continued)
• It is on a plate boundary between the African and the
Eurasian plates
• Home to many famous volcanoes, e.g. Mt Vesuvius
• Most recent earthquakes – 2009
• 5.8 on the Richter scale
• Town of L’Aquila in Abruzzo killing 308 people
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agriculture
• Climate
• Limiting effect on agriculture
• Irrigation is necessary
• Most agriculture is carried out during the winter months
• Tree crops such as vines, olives and citrus fruits, e.g.
lemons and limes
• Sheep are grazed in upland areas
• 9 per cent of the workforce is involved in agriculture
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agriculture (continued)
• High dependency on EU grants as farm incomes are 50
per cent lower than the EU average
• The Mezzogiorno contains 50 per cent of Italy’s
agricultural employment
• In the 1950s the land of the Mezzogiorno was divided into
estates called latifundi owned by absentee landlords
• Only 25 per cent of people at that time owned their own
land
• Some peasants rented small plots called minifundia but
most people worked the land of the estates as landless
labourers called braccianti
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Agriculture (continued)
• Production levels were low
• Farming was extensive
• Land was subdivided and therefore farm holdings were
small
• 70 per cent below 3 hectares in size
• Overgrazing and overcultivation were common
• Land worked intensively to support large families
• As people didn’t own the land there was no incentive for
them to try to improve their farming methods
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
• In the 1950s the Italian government introduced the
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (Fund for the South), backed
by the EU, to modernise farming practices in the South
Changes introduced:
 Land reform so that the local people could have access
to their own lands
 Holdings of approximately 5 hectares were created.
 Farmers were introduced to new farming techniques
 Farmers were trained in crop rotation, cash crops were
introduced and intensive farming practices
 Cassa invested in mechanisation and technology for
farms
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
Changes introduced (continued):
• Irrigation schemes
• Co-ops were formed to help farmers market and sell their
produce to the north of the country
• Improvements to infrastructure and ports
• Building of the Autostrada del Sole (a motorway)
• Communication links and services to rural villages were
ungraded
• Malarial swamps were drained
• Marshes of Metapontino were reclaimed
• Agricultural output increased tenfold
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno is now one of the main producers of
citrus fruits and olives for the European market
• Olive oil is also produced in the region
• Warmth and sunshine that encourages the early ripening
of crops
• Tree crops are suitable – deep roots to bind the soil
• Waxy leaves prevent moisture loss
• The most productive area – ‘plain of Campania’
• Deep fertile soils derived from the weathered lava of Mt
Vesuvius
• Referred to as the ‘Cultura promiscua’ by Italians
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa undesirable effects
• Mainly benefited the coastal plains
• Undesired effect of widening the income gap between
the upland areas and the coastal plains
• Farmers grow crops such as tomatoes, olives and grapes
• There has been a 200 per cent increase in the amount
of tomatoes grown in this region alone
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa undesirable effects (continued)
• Limited amount of crops
• Seasonal overproduction of these crops
• Dramatic fall in prices
• Irrigation systems introduced were very expensive
• Expansion into new farming practices such as pastoral is
limited in the region
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
SECONDARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Manufacturing activities
• Did not experience the Industrial Revolution of the late
nineteenth century
• 17 per cent of the Italian workforce and industrial output
were located in the region
• Poor and uneducated workforce
• Few large urban areas
• Poor local markets and upland terrain limits
• Peripheral location makes it difficult to attract
Multinational Companies (MNCs)
• Lacks natural resources
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
SECONDARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Manufacturing activities (continued)
• Limited supply of water
• Energy supplies are also limited – small gas and oil
deposits
• Food processing industries are difficult to develop
because of the limited amount of agricultural products
• Rail brought cheap mass-produced goods from the North
• Small companies in the region could not compete
• Long distance from EU markets
• Little local capital
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
From 1957 onwards the the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
(Fund for the South) scheme focused on improvements
to industrial development in the region
• Over the next 25 years €2.3 billion was invested under
the Vanoni Plan 1965–1970
• Created over 300,000 new jobs
• Introduced grants, subsidies and tax relief to encourage
new private companies
• The government also passed a new law requiring 40 per
cent of all new state companies to locate in the
Mezzogiorno
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (continued)
• New industrial estates, tax exemptions and transport
subsidies
• Fund for vocational training of the local labour force
• Building of new international airport at Calabria
• Money was invested
• Autostrada del Sole was constructed
• Benefited the food processing industries – transport
perishable food to the EU markets quickly and
efficiently
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (continued)
• Heavy industries, e.g. steel, oil refining,
petrochemical and gas distribution, has as much as 60
per cent new investment in the south during this period
• Develop four growth poles (cities) in the south
• The industrial triangle of Bari-Brindisi-Taranto
• Petrochemicals and steel brought much-needed jobs to
the region
• Most successful: new state owned industries is Finsider
Steelworks based in Taranto – Italy’s largest steel works
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (continued)
• Taranto is third most important port in Italy
• In 2002 the port handled over 36 million tonnes of
freight
• EU funds have also been used to improve ports
• In the 1970s the Cassa changed its approach and
focused on more labour intensive industries such as
food processing, fruit canning and vitamin manufacture
• Cassa was eventually disbanded in 1984
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
• EU structural funds were used by the Italian
government to improve the region and from 1989 to
1993 and more than €13 billion was invested.
• The workforce of the Mezzogiorno has almost tripled
since the 1960s to 1.4 million in recent years.
• The economy of the south has become more
diversified and outward migration has decreased
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa undesirable effects
The ‘Cassa per il Mezzogiorno’ it did not reach its
potential:
• Heavy industries only
• Not much spin-off employment
• Oil refineries were set up in Naples; they were capital
intensive and created few jobs
• Environment was not a priority for the government
• The region’s waters polluted
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa undesirable effects (continued)
• 2 million jobs were lost in agriculture due to
mechanisation and industrial development figures fell
from 57 per cent of the workforce in the 1950s to 9
per cent today
• Over-reliance on state investment
• Unemployment rates in the region are still very high at
20 per cent
• Development not evenly spread
• 23 per cent of families in the south still live in poverty
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
Cassa undesirable effects (continued)
• Infant mortality rate is four times that of northern Italy
and twice the rate of Western Europe
• Housing is substandard and 24 per cent of children drop
out after primary school
• Foreign companies wary of the influence of the Mafia
and the Camorra (Naples mafia)
• Infrastructure in the south still lags behind the north
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Tourism
• Beautiful coastline, e.g. Amalfi Coast
• Dotted with ancient ruins
• Volcanic landscapes, e.g. Mt Vesuvius
• Cheaper and less crowded than other better known Italian
resorts
• Mediterranean type climate with guaranteed sunshine
• 29ºC in summer
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Tourism (continued)
• Developed originally in the 1950s with the introduction of
package holidays and cheap flights
• Mezzogiorno lagged behind in the new tourist trade
• Poor transport facilities and peripheral location
• Growth in this area was limited to coastal regions
• In the 1950s, 15 per cent of the budget of the ‘Cassa per
il Mezzogiorno’ was targeted towards the development of
the tourist industry in the south
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Tourism (continued)
• Improvements made to hotels and self-catering
apartments in the region
• Communication links developed
• New airport was built at Calabria and ferry links were
introduced to Sicily and Sardinia
• Cassa developed more than 25 areas for tourism providing
direct and indirect employment
• 17 million visitors annually descend on the Mezzogiorno
but two-thirds of these are from the north of Italy
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
The Mezzogiorno has failed to be marketed to the
international tourist trade
• Employment in the tourist industry in the south is seasonal
• Increased both noise and environmental pollution
• Newly formed interest by foreign investors has created
inflated land prices
• Often beyond the reach of locals wishing to build and live in
their own area
• Pressures on an already strained water supply
• Budget airlines have started flying to the south, opened up
the region to visitors from Ireland and the UK, e.g. Ryanair
fly from London to Bari
Chapter 26: The Dynamics of European Regions II: The Mezzogiorno
TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
TRANSPORT
Communication links in the south were poorly developed
• €2.5 million of the Cassa funds directed to the south
were spent on improving the infrastructure of the region
• Two main motorways constructed
• Investment in the south was put into upgrading the
region’s ports especially the deep water ports of Taranto
and Sicily
• New container port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria – developed
1995
• Second largest container port in the Mediterranean
employing more than 1,000 people