Revitalizing marginal areas: A foundational economy approach

Abstract

This study presents a novel data-driven methodology to assess service provision and territorial fragility in Italy's marginal areas, focusing on the Piedmont region. Based on the foundational economic theory, this research emphasizes the role of essential services in sustaining daily life and territorial cohesion. We develop a Foundational Economy Index (FEI) that maps the availability of key services including healthcare, education, food, transportation, and civic infrastructure at the local level. Leveraging ISTAT data and over 17,000 geolocated service points through the Google Maps API, we identify distinct service configurations across 372 municipalities using hierarchical clustering techniques. We further introduce the concept of multi-service hubs, defined as multi-functional facilities that emerge in response to service scarcity and evaluate their capacity using the Economic Service Coverage (ESC) metric. Results reveal pronounced intraregional disparities, with most municipalities exhibiting critically low levels of foundational service availability. Hierarchical clustering identifies three distinct territorial profiles, with most municipalities concentrated in the low-service group, reflecting widespread structural under-provision. By operationalizing the foundational economy through a spatial analytical framework, this study provides a replicable and scalable approach for monitoring service equity in marginal territories worldwide. It offers actionable insights for policymakers, community leaders, and stakeholders aiming to reverse structural decline and promote sustainable development.