Regional Planning: Introduction and Explanation

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The literature on regional planning deals mainly with the economic development of depressed areas and urban planning. Few works treat regional planning by businesses and fewer still explore its employment by the military. Regional Planning corrects this imbalance by providing a unique introduction to the study of region types and their use for planning and operational purposes. Written in clear, accessible language and utilizing over 70 illustrations, Dr. Branch describes the many types of regions, their use by various fields of study for different purposes, and their utilization by civil governments, businesses, and the military services. In addition, examples of current practices in regional planning are discusses as well as future potential.

Reviews

. . . Students will find this volume useful as a source book on various types of regions, however, practitioners will have to work at deriving anything of an applied value.-Historical Geography Newsletter
Branch defines a region as a sizeable space with one or more common characteristics established by nature or delineated by humans for descriptive, analytical, managerial or other purposes.' However, regions generally do not coincide with the jurisdictional boundaries of governmental units established for political purposes or as a consequence of historical events. The contradiction between actual area needs and existing governmental jurisdictions poses a basic difficulty for planning. Effective regional planning, rather than jurisdictional planning, is required to resolve issues that transcend political or geographic boundaries, such as air quality, water supply, natural resource conservation, national defense, or agricultural pest control, yet continuous cooperation between different governmental bodies exixts only rarely. Branch describes the many types of regions, which he categorizes as dispersed, nodal, fixed, indeterminate, indefinate, temporary, fluctuating, and discontinuous. He then discusses their use in various fields of study, ranging from agricultural science to business management. Finally, Branch details the use of regions by the military services, by business, and by civil governments--the institutions most crucial to society and civilization. These examples include single-purpose, multipurpose, and comprehensive planning at different levels of application: global, international, national, and intranational. Some illustrations are selected from countries outside the United States in order to emphasize the worldwide applicability and use of regional planning concepts.-Urban Land
." . . Students will find this volume useful as a source book on various types of regions, however, practitioners will have to work at deriving anything of an applied value."-Historical Geography Newsletter
"Branch defines a region as a sizeable space with one or more common characteristics established by nature or delineated by humans for descriptive, analytical, managerial or other purposes.' However, regions generally do not coincide with the jurisdictional boundaries of governmental units established for political purposes or as a consequence of historical events. The contradiction between actual area needs and existing governmental jurisdictions poses a basic difficulty for planning. Effective regional planning, rather than jurisdictional planning, is required to resolve issues that transcend political or geographic boundaries, such as air quality, water supply, natural resource conservation, national defense, or agricultural pest control, yet continuous cooperation between different governmental bodies exixts only rarely. Branch describes the many types of regions, which he categorizes as dispersed, nodal, fixed, indeterminate, indefinate, temporary, fluctuating, and discontinuous. He then discusses their use in various fields of study, ranging from agricultural science to business management. Finally, Branch details the use of regions by the military services, by business, and by civil governments--the institutions most crucial to society and civilization. These examples include single-purpose, multipurpose, and comprehensive planning at different levels of application: global, international, national, and intranational. Some illustrations are selected from countries outside the United States in order to emphasize the worldwide applicability and use of regional planning concepts."-Urban Land

Author Bio

MELVILLE C. BRANCH is Professor of Planning at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Southern California in Los Angeles.