I recall in the past the devs were always trying to nudge us to leave the inner circle of Promitor. For at least a year Katoa was a backwater CX. We just never had a reason to leave, the resources were not any better than what was in the Promitor Montem area.
Permanent planet buffs are a tool the devs could use to nudge the player economy in a certain area of the map. It would also be a nice way to add flavor to the story and lore of PU.
some examples
Happiness Pheromones - The air on this planet causes the the population to be non-violent. No safety requirements for planet population.
Black Hole Anomaly -This planet has a good view of a nearby black hole that provides a wealth of research of interest to the scientific community. Scientist population growth rate increasesd. Bonus to Education