Growth poles are geographically pinpointed centers of economic intra- and intersectional linkages that generate positive externalities and spillovers, thereby leading to economic growth. Growth poles can exhibit two opposed forces. If top talent, capital, and knowledge are attracted by the growth poles, regional disparities will increase. If a growth pole's mobile production factors trickle down to weaker regions, it may lead to regional equilibrium. In aiming to achieve the latter, growth poles have been applied as a regional development concept.

François Perroux considered the combination of different sectors as functional nonbounded economic spaces that result in interindustrial multiplier effects, bringing about innovation and culminating in nonspatial polarization of the economy. In the middle of the 20th century, scientists such as Albert Hirschman and Gunnar Myrdal described ...