View source for Regional planning

{{Short description|Land use planning above city or town level}}
{{Distinguish|Area studies{{!}}Regional studies}}
{{No footnotes|date=July 2010}}

'''Regional planning'''  deals with the efficient placement of [[land-use]] activities, [[infrastructure]], and [[Human settlement|settlement]] growth across a larger area of land than an individual [[city]] or [[town]].  Regional planning is related to [[urban planning]] as it relates land use practices on a broader scale. It also includes formulating laws that will guide the efficient planning and management of such said regions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Chapter 6 Regional Planning|url=https://www.planning.org/growingsmart/guidebook/six01.htm|website=American Planning Association|publisher=American Planning Association Press|access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> Regional planning can be comprehensive by covering various subjects, but it more often specifies a particular subject, which requires region-wide consideration.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacity00cave|url-access=limited|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=9780415252256|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacity00cave/page/n601 561]}}</ref> 

Regions require various [[land use]]s; protection of [[farmland preservation|farmland]], cities, industrial space, [[transportation hub]]s and infrastructure, [[military base]]s, and [[wilderness]].  Regional planning is the science of efficient placement of infrastructure and zoning for the [[sustainable growth]] of a region. Advocates for regional planning such as new urbanist [[Peter Calthorpe]], promote the approach because it can address region-wide environmental, social, and economic issues which may necessarily require a regional focus.

A 'region' in planning terms can be administrative or at least partially functional, and is likely to include a network of settlements and character areas. In most European countries, regional and national plans are 'spatial' directing certain levels of [[land development|development]] to specific cities and towns in order to support and manage the region depending on specific needs, for example supporting or resisting [[wikt:polycentric|polycentrism]].

==Nomenclature==
Although the term "regional planning" is nearly universal in [[English-speaking countries]] the areas covered and specific administrative set ups vary widely. In [[North America]], regional planning may encompass more than one state, such as the [[Regional Plan Association]], or a larger [[conurbation]] or network of settlements. North American regional planning is likely to cover a much larger area than the [[Regional Assemblies of England|Regional Assemblies]] of the [[UK]]; both, however, are equally "regional" in nature.

==Principles==
Specific interventions and solutions will depend entirely on the needs of each region in each country, but generally speaking, regional planning at the macro level will seek to:<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1863920 | doi=10.1080/09654313.2020.1863920 | title=Disentangling three decades of strategic spatial planning in England through participation, project promotion and policy integration | year=2021 | last1=Ziafati Bafarasat | first1=Abbas | last2=Oliveira | first2=Eduardo | journal=European Planning Studies | volume=29 | issue=8 | pages=1375–1392 | s2cid=234437777 | url-access=subscription | hdl=2078.1/239405 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>
*Resist development in [[flood plain]]s or along [[earthquake fault]]s. These areas may be utilised as parks, or unimproved farmland.
*Designate transportation corridors using [[Spoke-hub distribution paradigm|hubs and spokes]] and considering major new infrastructure
*Some thought into the various 'role's settlements in the region may play, for example some may be administrative, with others based upon manufacturing or transport.
*Consider designating essential nuisance land uses locations, including waste disposal.
*Designate [[Green belt]] land or similar to resist settlement amalgamation and protect the environment.
*Set regional level 'policy' and zoning which encourages a mix of housing values and communities.
*Consider building codes, [[zoning]] laws and policies that encourage the best use of the land.
*Allocation of land.

==See also== 
*[[Urban planning]]
*[[Regional planning organization]]
*[[Metropolitan planning organization]] (MPO)

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* Jonathan Barnett, Planning for a New Century: The Regional Agenda, {{ISBN|1-55963-806-0}}
* [http://www.vjel.org/articles/articles/Salkin11FIN.htm Patricia E. Salkin, Supersizing Small Town America: Using Regionalism to Right-Size Big Box Retail, 6 Vermont Journal of Environmental Law 9 (2005)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819021702/http://www.vjel.org/articles/articles/Salkin11FIN.htm |date=2006-08-19 }}
* Peter Calthorpe & William Fulton, The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl, {{ISBN|1-55963-784-6}}

==External links==
* [http://www.narc.org US National Association of Regional Councils]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090530094130/http://www.institute.redlands.edu/sds/ Spatial Decision Support Knowledge Portal]

{{Environmental social science}}
{{Land-use planning|selected=branches}}
{{Developments}}
{{Social sciences}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Urban planning]]