Since the late 60's, planning in Cuba has been conceived as possible only once the collectivization of the means of production has been achieved at a national scale. The dispersal of rural settlements and the rapid growth of the major cities, particularly La Habana, have however remained major concerns for the state planning institutions. Since 1975, a centralisation/decentralisation dialectic has been at work. It combines a desire to balance most accurately territorial distributions as well as to make up for the wrongdoings of the prerevolutionary past, geographical constraints and even some mistakes in recent planning and management.