Forces of Geographical Concentration and Dispersion

Two contradictory forces are playing in the dynamics of the poles (or clusters):

• Centripetal forces. Are the outcome of factors promoting the efficiency and competitiveness of economic activities and therefore incite the attractiveness of a pole. They include market size (economies of scale), the availability of labor and many external economies linked with agglomeration (similar inputs and/or outputs).
• Centrifugal forces. Are the outcome of many factors such as high prices and congestion, which may undermine the competitiveness of some activities and incite corporations to seek alternatives elsewhere.

 Transport is an important factor in this process as it concomitantly supports centrifugal and centripetal forces. For instance, it could be a centrifugal force if the supplementary costs imposed by longer distances from major markets are compensated by savings in production factors (labor, land, taxes, etc.) and access to new resources.

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