ABSTRACT

Sector theory has had profound effects on settlement policy throughout the world, although in modified and often distorted form. To understand these and other influences on policy formation it is necessary to examine in greater detail the basic problem posed by the theory to policy makers in the field of regional development, namely, how the processes of development in underdeveloped areas are initiated and diffused. This chapter examines aspects of economic development theory and settlement theory that have influenced ideas on how development is initiated and how it is subsequently diffused. The specific application of these ideas to settlement policy is then considered in relation to the four concerns that have most commonly informed settlement policy: the desire to stimulate industrial development, the desire to promote rural development, a concern about city size, and the desire to improve levels of service provision.