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FrancoAngeli Journals

Articles

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025)

Territories between global competition and Sustainability: Getting out of the Race to the Bottom Trap

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/riss2025oa20227
Submitted
21 maggio 2025
Published
28-05-2025

Abstract

The article analyses the conflict between global competition and sustainability in contemporary territorial development models. The "Race to the Bottom" - characterised by production standardisation and externalisation of economic, social and environmental costs - manifests itself as a trap that compromises the capacity of territories to maintain a state of socially shared well-being over time. Through an empirical analysis of the unsustainability of the current development model and its effects on the four capital stocks (natural, human, social and economic), the work proposes a new competitive paradigm based on the principles of social utility, efficiency and social ethics. This alternative model requires a synergic action of all territorial stakeholders and a systemic approach to social innovation. Only through this transformation will it be possible to overcome the dichotomy between growth and sustainability, transforming the latter from a constraint to a strategic lever for territorial positioning in a global market increasingly aware of contemporary challenges.

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