Regional Disparities in Argentina: Old and Emerging Issues

Abstract

Regional disparities may be loosely defined as persistent geographical differences in the distribution of growth and development. Those disparities may be expressed in a number of dimensions that involve absolute and relative differences, that is, for example, population distribution and growth but also the per capita distribution of income. Those disparities may be also associated with differences in unemployment and, generally, with access to public goods. Regional disparities are an old feature of Argentina’s regional makeup. The most striking trait of those disparities has been, for a long time, not only the demographic and economic weight of Buenos Aires but also the differences between, for example, per capita income in Buenos Aires vis-à-vis other parts of the country. The overwhelming presence of Buenos Aires in the urban and regional structure of the country was first noted in a systematic manner by Alejandro Bunge, in 1940, but 18th and 19th century travellers and local essayists had already made plenty of comments about Buenos Aires’ importance in the urban structure of this part of South America (Figure 1). Though today the city of Buenos Aires still holds an undisputed prominence in the regional and urban structure of the country, things have changed and are changing.