Footloose industry is a general term for an industry that can be placed and located at any location without effect from factors such as resources or transport.
These industries often have spatially fixed costs, which means that the costs of the products do not change despite where the product is assembled. Some industries may have a strong resource orientation, that is, if the raw material used in a production process is heavy and bulky in character, it makes sense to be located close to those natural resources. Heavy manufacturing districts around the world are usually located near major coal deposits. Such a resource-oriented location is often combined with good access to important transportation routes.