Industry 4.0 and manufacturing in the city: a possible vertical development

Deindustrialization has moved factories and jobs elsewhere, creating voids, not just space, in Western cities. The definition of the fourth industrial revolution incorporates the tendency of modern manufacturing to produce with innovative methodologies and systems, exploiting the ever-increasing development of ICT technologies and adapting it for factory applications. The production plant changes, both for the conformation of several systems that interact with each other and for a consequent occupation of the spaces. The article analyzes the evolutionary scenario of industrial production and describes the ways in which some activities can develop vertically, creating the conditions for a location in the city.