Da integração territorial às aglomerações econômicas: a organização espacial e as políticas regionais nos Estados Unidos (1800-2000)

The paper summarizes and analyses the spatial organizations of US and their regional development policies. The first part describe the evolution of the US economy during the period 1800-2000, and the second part presents the regional policies and agencies that shape the regional development. The US regional policy was split into three periods. In the first period the regional policy was fully connected to the national development strategy. In the second period the regional policy turned to the regions that did not developed by their own: the so-called “regional problems”. In the third period, the regional policies showed a clear decline, they became more local and social-aid geared, and less structuralist or systemic.