Lorenzi, Niccolò (2023) The Strait of Messina Bridge: Some geographical evaluations of the most controversial Italian infrastructural project. Master thesis.
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Abstract
The development of transportation infrastructure is of fundamental relevance in the spatial allocation of economic activity. The paper shows how the development of the Strait of Messina Bridge would impact on the geographical distribution of economic activity within Italy. The simulations which are based on the New Economic Geography (NEG) Model developed by Paul Krugman in 1991, have been conducted through MATLAB 2021b, a programming software for economic database analysis, and the results were visualized using ArcGIS Pro. Our research aimed to deepen our understanding of the geographic economic implications of such a significant infrastructure endeavor. By examining the potential effects on spatial distribution of manufacturing industry, we sought to find a pattern on the expected outcomes of the Strait of Messina Bridge. The results show that the development of such infrastructure would encourage the phenomenon of intra-regional migration: manufacturing workers would relocate from peripheral areas in Sicily/Calabria to the main provinces of these two regions, increasing the geographical polarization of economic activities in the Southern Italy. On the other hand, no significant relocation would be expected in the North and Central regions of the country. This study contributes to understanding the potential consequences of huge infrastructure projects on national/(sub-)regional economies. Our research can help policymakers and stakeholders involved in regional development and infrastructure planning, offering valuable considerations for decision-making processes.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Degree programme: | Economic Geography: Regional Competitiveness and Trade (track) |
| Supervisor: | Venhorst, V.A. and Pot, F.J. |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Aug 2023 07:37 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Aug 2023 07:37 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4348 |
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