Read the notes, then try the practice. It adapts as you go.When you're ready.
Session Length
~17 min
Adaptive Checks
15 questions
Transfer Probes
8
Regional planning is the discipline concerned with the organized development and management of geographic areas that extend beyond individual municipalities but operate below the national level. It integrates land use, transportation, economic development, environmental protection, and public infrastructure into cohesive strategies that address the needs of entire metropolitan areas, counties, river basins, or multi-state corridors. By taking a broad spatial perspective, regional planning seeks to coordinate decisions that individual localities cannot effectively make alone, such as managing watersheds, building transit networks, preserving agricultural lands, and distributing affordable housing equitably across jurisdictions.
The intellectual roots of regional planning trace back to the early twentieth century, when thinkers like Patrick Geddes, Lewis Mumford, and the members of the Regional Planning Association of America argued that cities could not be understood or managed in isolation from their surrounding landscapes. The Tennessee Valley Authority, established in 1933, became one of the most ambitious regional planning experiments in history, combining flood control, electrification, and economic development across seven U.S. states. In Europe, the post-war reconstruction era gave rise to national spatial planning frameworks in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia that continue to influence practice worldwide.
Contemporary regional planning confronts challenges that are growing in both complexity and urgency. Climate change demands coordinated adaptation strategies that cross municipal boundaries, from coastal resilience planning to regional wildfire mitigation. Rapid urbanization in the Global South requires metropolitan governance structures that can manage sprawl, deliver services, and protect ecosystems simultaneously. Advances in geographic information systems, scenario modeling, and participatory planning methods have expanded the analytical toolkit available to practitioners, while persistent political fragmentation and funding constraints remain significant barriers to effective implementation.
One step at a time.
The institutional arrangements through which multiple local governments within a metropolitan area coordinate decision-making on shared issues such as transportation, water supply, and economic development.
Example: The Portland Metro Council in Oregon is an elected regional government that manages the urban growth boundary, transit planning, and waste disposal for 25 cities and three counties.
A regulatory line drawn around a metropolitan area to separate urban land from rural and agricultural land, directing development inward and preventing sprawl.
Example: Portland, Oregon adopted its urban growth boundary in 1979, which has helped concentrate development within the boundary while preserving surrounding farmland and forests.
The fair distribution of resources, services, and opportunities across a region so that geographic location does not determine access to employment, healthcare, education, or housing.
Example: A regional plan might require that affordable housing be distributed across all suburban jurisdictions rather than concentrated in a single low-income corridor.
A spatial development model in which a region is organized around multiple interconnected centers of activity rather than a single dominant core, promoting balanced growth and reducing commute distances.
Example: The Randstad in the Netherlands links Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht into a polycentric urban network where each city serves distinct economic functions.
Strategies aimed at improving the economic well-being and quality of life for an entire region by fostering industry clusters, workforce development, infrastructure investment, and innovation ecosystems.
Example: North Carolina's Research Triangle Regional Partnership coordinates economic development efforts across 13 counties surrounding the universities in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
The integrated planning and stewardship of all land and water resources within a hydrological drainage basin to protect water quality, manage floods, and sustain ecosystems.
Example: The Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates restoration efforts across six states and the District of Columbia, since the bay's health depends on land use practices throughout its 64,000-square-mile watershed.
A set of planning principles that promote compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development to reduce automobile dependence, preserve open space, and revitalize existing communities.
Example: Arlington County, Virginia applied smart growth principles along its Rosslyn-Ballston transit corridor, concentrating high-density mixed-use development within a quarter mile of Metro stations.
The process of forecasting travel demand and designing multimodal transportation networks that serve the mobility needs of an entire region, typically led by a metropolitan planning organization.
Example: The Southern California Association of Governments develops a Regional Transportation Plan that allocates over $600 billion in transportation investments across six counties over a 25-year horizon.
More terms are available in the glossary.
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