Application of the Co-plot Method in the Study of Socio-economic Differences between Cities: A Basis for a Differential Development Policy

Abstract

Research on regional development devotes little attention to socio-economic distinctions within peripheral and core regions, but rather, stresses disparities between regions. The findings of the present study point to the need to reconsider regional development by placing the main emphasis on the fashioning of a differential regional development policy, together with or in preference to a homogeneous or uniform policy. The significance of this finding transcends the Israeli case (40 development towns). This finding was exposed by the application of a new method, the co-plot. Co-plot enables the simultaneous study of observations and variables for a set of data. Co-plot maps the observations (rows of a matrix) in such a way that similar observations are closely located on the map. Each variable is represented individually by an arrow.