The Dictionary of Human Geography

purchasing power parities, derived from data
on the costs of a ‘standard basket’ of goods
and services. In addition, as a recent OECD
(2006) report indicated, comparison of GDP
levels internationally is difficult because: it
takes no account of leisure time and the qual-
ity of the environment; it is not standardized
for income inequality (an extra $1,000 per
annum means much more to a poor than to a
rich person); it does not factor in negative
contributors to thequality of life(such as
pollution); and it takes no account of the
depreciation of capital stock. Unfortunately,
though measures have been devised to capture
these, they are not readily available for many
countries. rj

gross national product (GNP) A measure
of economic activity in a given period of time,
usually applied to national economies. It com-
prisesgross domestic product(gdp) plus
the net return from profits, dividends and in-
come earned abroad. GNP estimates are used
to compare the volume of economic activity
over time and space – either in aggregate or
per capita – but to avoid complications intro-
duced by inflation and exchange rate fluctu-
ations they have to be converted to a common
base. This involves the use of purchasing
power parities (the costs of a ‘standard basket’
of goods and services at a given period) – as in
the calculated rate of inflation within a coun-
try, which is taken into account when calcu-
lating a ‘real terms’ rate of GNP growth. GNP
is not necessarily a valid measure of ‘economic
health’ since harmful consequences (e.g. on
the environment) are not taken into account,
whereas the later costs of their amelioration
are: increased expenditure onpolicingcould
stimulate GNP growth, for example, even
if it was merely a response to an increased
crimerate. rj

growth coalitions Alliances of urban elites,
with shared interests in local economic
growth, partnered in pursuit of business-
friendly and market-oriented forms of city
governanceandresourceallocation (Logan
and Molotch, 1987). Typically centring on the
rentierclass(including developers, financiers
and realtors), the business interests of whom
are ‘place-based’, growth coalitions also com-
prise a range of auxiliary players such as uni-
versities, media and utility owners,
representatives of business and civic organiza-
tions, cultural leaders and labour unions.
What are sometimes called ‘growth machines’
or ‘urban regimes’ have assumed increased

significance in the context of the entrepreneur-

ial turn in urban politics since the 1970s. jpe

Suggested reading

Jonas and Wilson (1999).

growth pole A dynamic and highly inte-

grated set of industries, often induced by the

state, organized around a propulsive leading

sector or industry. Growth poles are intended

to generate rapid growth, and to disseminate

this through spillover andmultipliereffects

in the rest of theeconomy. The concept

was devised by French economist Franc ̧ois

Perroux (1903–87), who, in 1955, located

thepoˆle de croissance in abstract economic

space. It was translated into more concrete

geographical terms by J.R. Boudeville (1966).

On the bases ofexternal economiesand

economies ofagglomeration– and hence of

uneven development – Boudeville argued

that the set of industries forming the growth

pole might be clustered spatially and linked to

an existing urban area. He also pointed to the

regionally differentiated growth that such a

spatial strategy might generate. The precise

meaning of the term ‘growth pole’ is difficult

to pin down, however, because it is frequently

used in a far looser fashion to denote any

(planned) spatial clustering of economic

activity.

The apparent simplicity of the notion, its

suggestion of dynamism and its ability to con-

nect problems ofsectoralgrowth and planning

with those ofintra- and inter-regionalgrowth

and planning, led to its ready acceptance

and widespread use in the 1970s and 1980s.

Although some commentators have seen Per-

roux’s ideas resurfacing in thenew economic

geography(Meardon, 2001), there were sev-

eral persistent difficulties associated with

growth poles in both theory and practice that

led to its fall from grace. These included the

following:

(1) Technical problems, notably: (a) the inter-

dependent decisions to be made on the

location, size and sectoral composition of

a growth pole – this was not a serious

problem for Perroux, who defined growth

poles around a single propulsive industry,

but more recent research on the related

ideas ofclustersandindustrial dis-

trictsidentifiesnetworksof industries

as central to urban and regional develop-

ment; (b) the distinction between spon-

taneous and planned poles, with the latter

requiring integrated social and physical

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GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP)