ABSTRACT
Recently, the spatial and territorial dimensions of the organisation of production has once again caught the attention of economists after having been ignored for so long by the economic mainstream. Within the standard theory, the market is absolutely compact and uniform, entirely lacking any segmentation or division. On this basis the very concept of ‘region’ (and any related subdivision) remains just like one of the many empty boxes offered to researchers by the real world, banishing the analysis to the less ‘noble’ world of applied economics. To speak comprehensively of the ‘territorial system’ — or of the spatial dimension of production — it is necessary to adopt an approach in which territory (i.e. the physical entity of geographical and socio-cultural space) might model from within the shape of the relations and co-determine their dynamic evolution.
