經濟發展的空間意涵長期以來一直是個重要的議題。一般而言，區域發展的政策除了追求快速的經濟成長外，也追求空間的平衡。到底經濟發展會導致區域收斂，或區域分歧？不同的研究常有南轅北轍的結論，莫衷一是。
爲了瞭解上述的問題，本文企圖以台灣北部區域－戰後台灣發展最快速的區域－作爲個案研究，而以經濟成長最快的1970至1999年－這時期台灣經歷Rostow的「起飛階段」、「工業化階段」及「成熟階段」－作爲研究時間。而且，利用一些量化方法，如變異係數、羅倫茲曲線、威廉森指數、及收斂分析，來對代表區域發展的經濟、社會與人口的變數，作較精確的分析。
本文的目的，一方面，希望能揭露不同經濟發展時期的空間型態；另方面，以台灣的例子來驗證一些相關的區域發展理論。
The spatial implications of economic development has long been a significant theme for regional scientists and planners. Generally, the purposes of the regional development policy are two folds: economic growth and spatial equality. Will the economic development result in regional convergence, or regional divergence? Different researches done in different parts of the world have so far no consistent answers.
In order to understand the aforementioned questions, this paper attempts to investigate the consequences of economic development of northern Taiwan for 1970–1999, a period having the fastest economic growth rate, as a case study. To measure "development" more precisely, certain quantitative methods are employed to analyze the economic, social and population variables, such as: coefficient of variation, Lorenz curve, Williamson index, and convergence analysis.
This paper is intended, on the one hand, to reveal the spatial patterns during different phases of economic development, and, on the other, to testify the validities of various regional growth theories in the context of Taiwan's experience.
