World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography

Economic growth will be unbalanced, but development still can be inclusive. That is the main message of this year's World Development Report. The report proposes that spatial transformations along various dimensions will be necessary: Higher density as seen in the growth of cities, Tokyo, the world's largest city is home to 35 million - a quarter of Japan's population - but stands on just four percent of its land; and shorter distances as firms and workers migrate closer to economic opportunities. Eight million Americans change states every year, migrating to reduce distance to economic opportunity. The new World Development Report challenges the assumption that economic activities must be spread geographically to benefit the world’s most poor and vulnerable.

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