This article analyzes the events surrounding the “Società anonima per la costruzione di due ponti sull’Arno” (Anonymous company for the construction of two bridges over the Arno), which was founded in Florence in the 1830s. In the post-Napoleonic era, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany witnessed an increase in the production of cereals for domestic consumption. As a result, it became necessary to reorganize communication channels in order to better connect the region’s main marketplaces to areas that were further away from the Arno. This was to be done through the construction of bridges, and the Florentine aristocracy took the lead in this infrastructure project. One reason they did so was to diversify their investments: indeed, this was the first case in which a joint-stock company was used to speculate in public utility works. The construction of numerous bridges over the Arno eliminated many impediments to the marketing of agricultural products on the part of rural communities, and thus the regional market was able to consolidate around the region’s main transportation routes (namely the River Arno and the Leopolda railway).
Infrastrutture e sviluppo del mercato in Toscana: la costruzione dei ponti sull’Arno nella prima metà dell’Ottocento
CINI, MARCO
2015-01-01
Abstract
This article analyzes the events surrounding the “Società anonima per la costruzione di due ponti sull’Arno” (Anonymous company for the construction of two bridges over the Arno), which was founded in Florence in the 1830s. In the post-Napoleonic era, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany witnessed an increase in the production of cereals for domestic consumption. As a result, it became necessary to reorganize communication channels in order to better connect the region’s main marketplaces to areas that were further away from the Arno. This was to be done through the construction of bridges, and the Florentine aristocracy took the lead in this infrastructure project. One reason they did so was to diversify their investments: indeed, this was the first case in which a joint-stock company was used to speculate in public utility works. The construction of numerous bridges over the Arno eliminated many impediments to the marketing of agricultural products on the part of rural communities, and thus the regional market was able to consolidate around the region’s main transportation routes (namely the River Arno and the Leopolda railway).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
