Growth Poles and Clusters: Are There Useful Analytical Complementarities?

Abstract

This article aims to critically review the advancements in the study of contemporary dynamics of local development under the prism of the analytical perspectives of growth poles and clusters. We proceed to a literature review of clusters and growth poles and attempt an analytical synthesis. The analysis of growth poles appears to remain within the interpretive limits of traditional economic geography, focusing mainly on the dimension of regional agglomerations. At the same time, the broader literature on clusters deals more with interdisciplinary issues in their global perspective by starting increasingly its analysis from the micro-dynamics articulated at the firm level. This article proposes a conceptual extension to the analysis of the current dynamics of local development in the framework of the “competitiveness web” that takes into account all the interdependent levels of space and actors.