Regionalism at all costs Nallo Mazzocchi Alemanni and the Bradano Valley Land Reclamation Project, 1955.

Independent scholar, Rome, Italy

Corresponding author: filodedominicis@gmail.com

Abstract

Between 1950 and 1956, one fifth of the Italian landscape was profoundly reshaped. According to the first ten-year plan issued by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, 51 aqueducts and around 3,000 km of roads would provide the necessary infrastructure to rehouse millions of farmers, while 139 new settlements and 46,450 isolated houses would result from the new subdivision of land. Besides the national funds, newly established local authorities were entrusted with the handling of all technical aspects concerning land reclamation and resettlement. Far from being the mere result of political agreements, such an impressive and multi-faceted reform process stood at the intersection of cultural debates, national ambitions and foreign ascendancies that sought substantial alternatives to modernization and urbanization. This paper highlights an off-radar case study, with the aim of presenting and understanding some of the aspects featuring in the Italian discourse on rural planning. It deals with the intervention of the Bradano Valley Land Reclamation Authority and its main consultant, Nallo Mazzocchi Alemanni, and frames their efforts in the larger and multifaceted postwar Lucanian experience. Inscribed in the contemporary debate on regionalism and planning, the technical stance of Mazzocchi Alemanni would provide the foundation upon which to unfold the interweaving of contradictory ideologies deployed by intellectuals and activists seeking to uplift the Italian Mezzogiorno.