This book reproduces doctoral thesis on Territorial Planning and Regional Development defended by the author in 2003 at the University of Barcelona. Your goal is to identify the factors that drive and constrain the development of a country or region. This analysis was important to establish the analytical framework to evaluate the process of development of the State of Bahia, Brazil, in the last 50 years. This book consists of the following parts: 1)Analysis of the worldwide economy from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, 2)Analysis of development of selected countries in the twentieth century, 3)Analysis of the Brazilian economy from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, 4)Analysis of social and regional inequalities of Brazil in the twentieth century, 5)Analysis of characteristics of the territory and society in the State of Bahia, 6) Analysis of the economy of Bahia from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, 7)Analysis of social and environmental development of the State of Bahia and their region in the recent period, 8)Evaluation of development policies implemented in the State of Bahia in the last 50 years, 9)Conclusions.