Regional Planning Overview

Principles

Definition

Regional planning is a field of study and practice focused on the systematic design and management of development across large geographic areas encompassing multiple jurisdictions. This approach investigates the interdependencies between community needs, environmental systems, and socio-economic factors to guide cohesive and sustainable regional growth.

Ontological type

Core Methods

Sustainability Integration

Governance Frameworks

Key developments

Key Figures

Multi-Criteria Policy Turn era

John Friedmann [1] emerged as a leading figure in regional planning during this era, with affiliations at the University of California, Los Angeles [2] and Princeton University [3]. His 1982 paper Territory and Function: The Evolution of Regional Planning [4] argued that regional analysis should foreground territory and functional differentiation, thereby reorienting planning toward territory-based strategies in policy work. This work helped anchor the era's move toward integrated evaluation, multi-criteria decision making, and GIS-informed accessibility in regional planning, making explicit how trade-offs among economic, social, and environmental objectives could be translated into policy instruments [4]. Friedmann’s influence thus helped shape territory-based governance and investment within regional policy, linking scholarly analysis to practical decision frameworks [1].

Integrated Modeling and Coproduction era

Peter H. Verburg[1] is associated with Wageningen University & Research[3] and the University of Amsterdam[4] in the Integrated Modeling and Coproduction era. His key contribution is the CLUE-S model for modeling the Spatial Dynamics of Regional Land Use, as described in Modeling the Spatial Dynamics of Regional Land Use: The CLUE-S Model[6], which enabled scenario-based land use planning and cross-boundary policy exploration, making complex interactions negotiable in this era. A. Veldkamp[2] is associated with Wageningen University & Research[3] and the University of Bern[5] during the Integrated Modeling and Coproduction era. His contributions include co-developing the CLUE-S model and applying it to capture spatial land-use dynamics, as described in Modeling the Spatial Dynamics of Regional Land Use: The CLUE-S Model[6], which advanced regional planning by enabling policy experimentation and coproduction of model outputs into planning processes.

Policy-Aware Regional Futures era

Filippo Giorgi [1] is associated with Wuhan University [3], reflecting how this era foregrounds regional climate knowledge for policy-oriented futures. His work on Regional Dynamical Downscaling and the CORDEX Initiative [6] provided downscaled climate information that supports anticipatory governance and resilience planning in policy-aware regional futures. Markku Sotarauta [2] is affiliated with Trinity College Dublin [4], and with Aalto University [5], illustrating the cross-institutional leadership role in this era. His 2019 paper Trinity of change agency, regional development paths and opportunity spaces [7] articulates a framework for change agency and opportunity spaces, underscoring why agentic governance matters for regional futures.