Rethinking Spatial Inequality in Development: The Primacy of Power Relations

Abstract

Why do spatial inequalities emerge and persist? After showing that existing explanationsof spatial inequality are at best partial, this article argues that persistent spatial development disparitiesare the product of the terms on which underdeveloped regions are incorporated into ruling coalitions.In most cases, political elites from lagging regions are incorporated on marginal terms, underminingtheir capacity to direct public resources to their constituents. Consequently, governments direct moreresources to relatively better-off and politically dominant regions, reinforcing spatial inequalities. Ouranalyses highlight the importance of going beyond a dichotomous assessment of whetherdisadvantaged regions are included or excluded from ruling coalitions to an examination of the termsof their inclusion