ABSTRACT
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was scarcely a developed or a developing country that did not make use of the concept in formulating its development policy. In the form in which it was usually applied, the notion of growth poles made regional development seem so simple. In the 1950 article the term growth pole or growth centre does not actually appear, but Francois Perroux does speak of "poles" and "centres," and it is clear that he thinks of them as concentrations of economic activity and as generators of growth. No doubt Perroux wanted to get away from the concept of cities as central places, essentially market towns created by their peripheral region. In short, the simplified models of growth poles and central places that have been constructed to facilitate their application to policy and planning are in fact self-defeating.
