Inequalities in Territorial Development: Enigmas and Threats

This chapter focuses on the dynamics of development inequalities, then the mechanisms of territorial cohesion at work, and finally the current risks of a reappraisal of these cohesion systems. For some, territorial development is measured by the capacity of the territories to generate wealth (added value of companies) and so gross domestic product per inhabitant or per job is used to measure this. In social and territorial analysis, it is often thought that alleviating poverty involves overcoming income inequalities. The reasons for the decline in territorial inequalities in income which more than offsets the increase in inequalities in added value are well known and are due to the fact that household incomes now depend more on public and private circulation and on the capture of income than on the creation of wealth in their territories.