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Regional Inequalities
Main causes of inequalities:
 Comparative advantages – Advantages due to natural resources & location, which creates the
initial stimulus for an industry to locate there.
 Acquired advantages – Due to cumulative causation the reputation of the area is increased
attracting other industry. E.g. skilled workforce improved infrastructure etc.
Europe
Problem Regions:
 Depressed rural regions – peripheral regions with little industry & large out-migration e.g.
Mezzogiorno.
 Declining industrial areas – now suffer de-industrialisation because of the decline of heavy
industry e.g. Ruhr, Thames gateway.
Growth Regions:
 Primate regions – Concentration of wealth, industry, population e.g. London.
 Growth regions – regions of growth e.g. golden triangle of Paris, London & Amsterdam.
 Islands of innovation e.g. Berlin specialise in techno-industrial fields.
 Small activity centres – Occur in periphery areas because of cheap labour & incentives e.g. Lisbon.
Hot Banana
Area covering Europe’s core areas. It stretches from SE England, through N France, the Rhine, the
Ruhr & into Milan. This zone attracts company HQs and R&D and accounts for 40% of EU total
output.
Brazil – LEDC
Originally, under Portuguese rule the NE of Brazil was the wealthiest region based on plantation crops.
Therefore Brazil’s first capital was Salvador as it was a major port.
However, now the wealthiest region (the core) is the SE around Sao Paulo due to industrialisation,
urbanisation & the creation of jobs. This area has 64% of the country’s wealth. This area first
developed due to coffee growing & gold & diamonds mining. This was followed by Iron-ore mining,
which led to the growth of a steel industry. HEP provided cheap power & so the region became a
centre of commerce, education & administration. Therefore the area has the highest standard of living
in the country & receives most foreign & government investment due to acquired advantages.
In the Periphery of Brazil most people are subsistence farmers. However the soils are poor & there is
frequent drought. The region is over-populated & so often there is not enough food for everyone. There
is very little HEP and so there is a lack of energy, putting off industry. The lack of jobs has led to the
migration of 1000s to the SE.
UK – MEDC
Causes of regional inequality:
 Imbalance of declining heavy industry – iron, shipbuilding in the N
 Most unemployment occurs in small pockets of urban areas.
 Industry & jobs are located mainly in SE England.
 Problems of depression in the N.
 Poor communications in the N.
Assisted areas used to cover much of the UK except the Midlands, E Anglia & the SE. However, now
much less help is provided & it is spread more around the UK. There is now some help for areas of
London as well as the traditional areas of Scotland, the NE & S Wales. This help has caused
inequalities to drop in the UK but there is still an inequality between N & S.
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Italy – Deprived MEDC
Regional Inequality in Italy
The North
Industrial
Triangle
Third Italy
Mezzogiorno
(The South)
There is a large disparity between N & S with unemployment 4x greater in the S than in the N. These
problems have been made worse by economic recession.
Problems in the S:
 State is weak – corruption & organised crime.
 Administration poor.
 Infrastructure inadequate.
 Banks are run badly.
Reasons for divide:
 South neglected politically by the N.
 Different culture – People “Backward” & inefficient.
 Peripherality – a long way from core markets.
 Rural decline – migration of able workforce & decline of land due to climate.
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno
There is a dual industrial policy to attract industrial giants e.g. Fiat & small artisan companies e.g.
furniture makers. Growth poles were set up to attract industry with the hope of initiating the multiplier
effect to cause sustainable development. There were also generous government grants & tax incentives.
Although there has been some success on the Adriatic Coast the policy has failed. Plants such as Alfa
Romeo did set-up but these were only branch plants, which never developed links to the local economy
& created relatively few jobs. Measures have not been at all effective in reducing regional inequality. A
lot of money has been spent but has had little effect in establishing an industrial base.
The area is over-dependent & incapable of self-generating growth. Emphasis has instead shifted to the
selective encouragement of small & medium sized firms.
Third Italy
This has become prosperous & successful as it has created industrial districts with lots of small firms.
High levels of education & communication, low land prices and good local enterprise, have also helped
the area.