new regionalism

The current rebirth of the belief that government based on metropolitan units (such as Greater Manchester, or the UK West Midlands) can plan for regions better than can disjointed local government groupings. It is argued that the economic health of the city and of its catchment areas are indivisible, and that, without regional planning, individual authorities within a single region will compete with one another for limited resources and economic investment.

M. Cassells and P. Hall (1994, repr. in R. T. LeGates and F. Stout (eds.) 1996) argue that city and regional governments can better adapt to rapid change in global technologies and cultures than can national governments, and a move to regionalism is said to provide greater economic prosperity, via the efficient and cost-effective delivery of services. Environmental protection should be improved, through rational, regional planning and the deterrence of urban sprawl. See technological revolution, technopole.