New poverties and pandemics in industrial districts: the case of Carpi/Nuove povertà e pandemia nei distretti industriali: il caso di Carpi

The article presents the results of a research conducted in the second half of 2020 on the social and eco- nomic condition of Carpi during the pandemic crisis. The case study rests on some assumptions that can be generalized to all industrial districts, in particular with regard to their relationship with society. The first part of the research focuses on the links between the processes of restructuring the district and the social and economic condition of Carpi. The aim is the understanding of how the productive form of the district is still able to determine the development of the urban context in which it is embedded. In the second part, the focus of the investigation moves to the study of the links between the restructuring of the district, its crisis during the pandemic and the new poverty. The research shows how the disembedding process of the district has weakened the economic and social structure of Carpi over time. From that phase on, the pandemic has accelerated and increased - but not determined - the new forms of poverty and social precariousness.