growth pole

A point of economic growth. Poles are usually urban locations, benefiting from agglomeration economies, and should interact with surrounding areas spreading prosperity from the core to the periphery. Observation of naturally occurring growth poles has inclined planners to create new growth poles; the best-known attempt at creating growth poles took place in the Mezzogiorno (south) of Italy, with industrial complexes planned at Taranto and Bari. Such artificially created growth poles, as in France, have not stimulated regional development as much as was hoped.