Geographia Polonica (1972) vol. 20

Urbanization and regional development in the United States

Brian J. L. Berry

Geographia Polonica (1972) vol. 20, pp. 5-32 | Full text

Abstract

The interrelations between urbanization and regional development in the UnitedStates may be studied on at least two planes:

1. That of the long-term associations between regional growth and urbandevelopment as the nation expanded and its space-economy was successively transformedby a seriesof major innovations.(
2. The present cross-sectional relationships between the degree to which differentregions are urbanized and their level of welfare.

In this paper we examine the former topic in sufficient detail to develop anunderstanding of the processes operating, specify the more important dimensionsof the cross-sectional relationships that exist today, and suggest some of the implicationsfor regional policy in the present American societal and institutional context.

Brian J. L. Berry, Center For Urban Studies The University of Chicago