France has had a strong centralized history for centuries, and Paris has overwhelmed other cities. Population, administration, industry, education and everything were concentrated in Paris. After the Second World War, the economic policies of the French government were a reconstruction policy represented by the Monet plan, while the imbalance of the land became larger.
In 1950, for the first time, France government officially referred to ''Amenagement du territoire'', which translates into regional planning, regional policy or spatial planning by English. But in the 1950s, it was not very successful due to the unstable political situation of the Fourth Republic and the war of independence in colonies such as Vietnam and Algeria. Above all, the French Left perceived regional planning and decentralization as a Right-wing idea, and they were opposed to the policies or were apathetic.
The regional planning began in earnest when the Fifth Republic was established and supported by President Charles de Gaulle and Prime Minister Georges Pompidou. The establishment of ''DATAR'' in 1963 was a turning point in the history of French regional planning. The DATAR, directly linked to the Prime Minister, had strong authorities and was very active until the economic crisis of the mid-1970s.
At the time, DATAR''s representative policy is ‘Metropole d''equilibre’. DATAR has designated eight cities(Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nancy, Lille, and Toulouse) as Metropole d''equilibre in 1964 with the aim of fostering over one million populated cities in each province against Paris. As a result, this policy did not meet its goals. The 1973 oil shock and the economic downturn cooled the interest in regional planning, which consumed a huge budget. Nonetheless, designated cities have benefited from road construction, urban development, housing complex construction, university diversification, and industrial, commercial development. Population growth in Paris also slowed.
Above all, the French Left has begun to take an interest in regional planning and decentralization. As a result, in the 1980s, regional planning began to seek a new direction, combined with decentralization, and today it has become a common agenda to both sides. DATAR has also changed its name to CGET and continues its activities. This article analyzes these processes and examines the historical significance of France''s attempt to balanced national development in mid-20th-Century.