To Restructure or not to Restructure: Contemplations on Postwar Industrial Geography in the U.S. South

Excitement over the "New South" extends to the changing southern manufacturing landscape, but this landscape may not always reflect the promise of a new economic order. The purpose of this study is to offer a broadly based review of industrial change in the post-World War II South, with the goal of separating reality from myth. Past industrial patterns are examined briefly to provide a framework for investigating postwar trends. These trends relate to the role of production costs, the urban contrast, the marketing of location, industrial succession, flexible production, automation, and policy cultures. Final comments examine future industrial spaces in the South and how the promise of the New South may still be within reach.