ABSTRACT

Only one thing emerges clearly from the survey of literature in the field of regional development: we are in an era of extreme fluidity and flexibility regarding location of industry, agglomeration and deglomeration, integration and disintegration, polarization and "polarization-reversal." There are endless attempts to describe what is happening in individual regional economies, and even some attempts to explain them. But the global picture of regional development is very confusing. Philippe Aydalot begins his article on "La division spatiale du travail" with this observation: "In the general analysis of the forces which define the spatial inequality of regional development, the location of industry is a major chapter, because it is the enterprise which disposes of the dominant power of decision-making in this domain." Once one recognizes that different technologies are suitable for cities of different sizes, because of the nature of the labour force available, the way is open for the product cycle theory.