mediate cities than in large, congested agglomerations or in smaller places. Apart from their role in the national hierarchy, intermediate cities can provide an impetus to social ar.d economic transformation by functioning as regional industrial c:nd commer­ cial centres and as locations for decentralized transport, marketing, educational, service and government functions. 30. A pertinent quest ion to raise here is whether "growth pole" strategies have worked well enough in other developing countries to be recommended for Africa. Specifically, have they produced beneficial spread effects, or changed migration pat­ terns, or reduced regional income disparities? The fact is that positive results cannot be expected from policies that have not had much real content in terms of relevant programmes and projects, or from programmes that have had too little time to yield results. Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, for example, have all embarked on anib it ious "growth centre" program­ mes, but it is still too soon to evaluate their effectiveness. 31. During the 1950s there was considerable optimism with respect to the potentialities of "growth poles", but it evaporated during the 1970s when the expectations of the previous decade failed to be fulfilled. The recent view is more balanced: these policies have usually ended in failure, it may be due less to deficiencies in the theory than to improper applications, and specifically to the over-optimism and short-run time horizon of regional pol icy-makers, the failure of sustained political will, the use of deficient investment criteria,. bad locational choices and lack of imagination in designing appropriate policy instru­ ments. 32. If "growth centre" strategies are to succeed, African countries will have to embed them within more comprehensive. development schemes which take account of political, social and institutional changes as well as explicit and implicit sectoral 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the concept of "growth poles" and their potential to promote economic development in developing countries, particularly in Africa. It highlights the importance of embedding these strategies within comprehensive development schemes that take into account political, social, and institutional changes. The text also critiques the limitations of previous "growth pole" strategies, citing factors such as over-optimism, short-run time horizon, and lack of imagination in designing policy instruments.

**Category**
Economic development, Industry