Rapport sur le developpement dans le monde 2009 : repenser la geopraphie economique

Economic growth will be unbalanced, but development can still be inclusive-that is the message of this year's World development report, the thirty-first in the series. As economies grow from low to high income, production becomes more concentrated spatially. Some places, cities, coastal areas, and connected countries-are favored by producers. As countries develop, the most successful ones also institute policies that make living standards of people more uniform across space. The principle for a successful spatial transformation, getting the immediate benefits of concentration of production, and the long term benefits of a convergence in living standards, is economic integration. The report first describes the spatial transformations needed for development. It analyzes these changes using the insights from economic history and recent research. Then it revisits the policy debates on urbanization, regional development, and international integration.