The current development regions are composed by counties with very different development levels, and the urban centres they include are also characterised by different polarisation abilities. Great differences persist among the Romanian development regions, created in order to mitigate the development discrepancies existing in Romania. The comparative analysis of socio-economic development, attractiveness and quality of life benchmarks, from the beginning of these territorial constructions to the current time, seeks to outline the extent to which they have led to a rebalancing or, on the contrary, to greater disparities, not only within the development areas themselves, but also at national level.