In an Italy marked by decades of deindustrialization, many former industrial areas—once the beating heart of the national economy—now appear as abandoned spaces: empty warehouses, halted projects, untapped potential. To reverse this trend, a concrete solution lies in the public-private partnership (PPP), an operational model based on structured cooperation between the State and private enterprise. It is not merely a public subsidy, but a true synergy: the public sector plans, simplifies, and supports, while the private sector contributes vision, expertise, and implementation capacity.
“Synergy works best when a private business—due to market difficulties, corporate crisis, or structural problems—collapses, leaving behind an open wound on the territory. In such cases, public intervention can act as a lever for recovery, provided it is guided by a coherent vision and shared objectives,” emphasizes labor law expert Nino Carmine Cafasso.
But the value of PPP extends far beyond the regeneration of a single industrial site. Often, these projects encompass a broader renewal: worker training, employee services, urban redevelopment, and collaboration with schools and universities. The result is an economy that starts moving again and a territory that comes back to life.
One example is the conversion project of the former plant in Via Argine, Naples, which will transform an abandoned industrial site into a modern production facility, allowing hundreds of workers to be reintegrated through professional retraining and upskilling programs.
“To truly work,” Cafasso continues, “this tool requires clear conditions: transparency in defining roles, reliable regulations, timelines compatible with business needs, and, above all, sustained political commitment. When these elements align, the outcome is virtuous—stable employment, attraction of investments, reactivated supply chains, and territories regaining competitiveness.”
In a country where too many corporate failures have turned into industrial wastelands, the public-private partnership represents a viable and replicable response. It is not a magic formula, but certainly a path worth pursuing with determination.
