ABSTRACT
Regional and national growth inevitably results in the emergence of urban centers of production, distribution, consumption, service and administration. The relationships between these centers change according to the development context and to the period in growth of the region or the nation, and are both spatial and functional. Wherever centers existed prior to European colonization, they tended to be semi-autonomous centers of political and economic systems relatively limited in their geographic scope. But the emergence of important centers of commerce and administration was interrupted by the imposition of colonial rule. The 'spatial order' which existed to serve indigenous political and economic interests was disrupted, and replaced by a new, colonial spatial order. Although frequently used, the term 'linkages' refers to a multitude of formal and informal flows of goods, services, messages, capital and people between urban areas. In the decades ahead developing countries will have to undertake the rebuilding of infrastructure, both intra-urban and inter-urban.
