Growth Poles/Centres in Development Policy

The present study discusses the experiences of previous applications of the growth pole strategy. He mentions top-down planning, financing of the public sector and (primarily) economic investments concentrated in a relatively small number of metropolitan areas (urban industrial development) among the dominant features of the doctrine. The implementation of the pole strategy transforms the spatial structure of the country and the affected regions. It results in decentralisation at the level of the nation and initially, concentration at the level of regions. It is rarely able to ameliorate the situation of lagging rural areas, however success is more likely in the case of the development of metropolitan areas disposing of sufficient potentials. The multi-level strategy realised in various degrees and with varying economic content produces a more balanced spatial structure. The study focuses on the Hungarian (mostly failed) examples of its implementation and outlines some possibilities of its adaptation in the current situation