VERBI VEnice Research BIbliography

This study considers the recovery and the rehabilitation of Porto Marghera in the context of the vast productive and social transformations that have characterized the area under the pressure of globalization, on the one hand, and the strengthening of a new environmental sensitivity on the other. The study takes into consideration the demands placed on by a production system in transition, both at the local and regional scale, within the framework of the specificity of the area, characterized by the co-evolution of natural and manmade systems; within this framework, the lagoon safeguard is a requisite for a sustainable development.
The study was designed according to two coherent and integrated objectives: firstly, the identification of the role played by high quality public goods (such as adequate human capital, R&D funding, physical and intangible infrastructure, efficient education system, good environmental and institutional quality) in promoting a sustained and durable local economic growth; secondly, the identification of potential options for the provision of such public goods, in particular environmental quality and infrastructures, investigating the problems and the expectations of firms operating in the area, and studying the environmental report of the area.
In the following sections we present an overview of the main results. In section 2 we follow the Industrial Ecological approach and study the sustainability of the industrial site of Porto Marghera following the approach of the Material Flow Analysis. The calculation of several environmental performance indicators allowed for punctual considerations and individuating temporal trends of variables of interest. In section 3 we analysis the endogenous growth model for the region and for Venice within it, specifically the role of qualified labour and human capital, the sectoral composition and the mobility of skilled labour among sectors to highlight the potential for innovation on economic growth. Finally, in section 4 we summarize the results of the survey administered to firms in Porto Marghera.