Chapter 11 Beyond the Core-Periphery Model: Policies for Development in a Multi-Dimensional Space

This chapter contributes to the conceptual effort to find an ‘encompassing framework’ to understand the rugged landscape of territorial development. A paradigmatic shift is in need to reflect the gains from trade increasingly as a result of territorial communality rather than market optimality. This contribution reviews first the tenets of the core-periphery models premised on three interpretations of space, that is, uniform-abstract space, diversified-relational space and uniform-stylised space. The conventional (spatial) models of peripherality are increasingly questionable when considering the relevance of more appropriate ‘aspatial’ concepts for understanding the conditions for growth and development across territories. The conclusions emphasise the need to drop the norm of a universal policy related to a space of development divided in advanced and lagging areas. The implications range from re-stating the unit of analysis to re-stating the role of policy coordination in a multi-core integration environment. This chapter attempts to evade the ‘illusion’ of the coincidence of political space with economic and human space. We aim at gaining ground towards a framework of analysing development that substitutes relational specificity of local economies for uniform territories of aggregate socio-economic features.