Reflections on Regionalism

Bruce Katz

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Year: 2001
• eBook ISBN: 9780815723561
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Academics, community activists, and politicians have rediscovered regionalism, insisting that regions are critical functional units in a world-wide economy and, just as important, critical functional units in individual American lives. More and more of us travel across city, county, even state borders every morning on our way to work. Our television, radio, and print media rely on a regional marketplace. Our businesses, large and small, depend on suppliers, workers, and customers who rarely reside in a single jurisdiction. The parks, riverfronts, stadiums, and museums we visit draw from, and provide an identity to, an area much larger than a single city. The fumes, gases, chemicals, and run-off that pollute our air and water have no regard for municipal boundaries.
This book lays out a variety of opinions on regionalism, its history and its future. While the essays do not comprise a debate, pro and con, about regionalism, they do provide a wide array of perspectives, based on the authors' diverse backgrounds and experience. Some contributors have made close academic studies of how regional action occurs, in various states like Minnesota, California, and Oregon; others give an historical account of a particular region like that surrounding New York City; and yet others point out aspects of regionalism--race, especially-- that should not be ignored.
Why did past efforts at regional collaboration fall apart? What did regionalist efforts of decades ago leave undone, and what new goals should regionalists set? Without an understanding of these questions, policymakers and advocates may find themselves "reinventing the region." This book provides an important understanding of how regionalism has played out in the past, how policies shape places, and the possibilities and limits of regional action.
Bruce J. Katz, director of the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, was formerly chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Information
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Editor's Overview
• Metropolitan Land-Use Reform: The Promise and Challenge of Majority Consensus
• Part One: Regional Growth and Governance
• Growing and Governing Smart: A Case Study of the New York Region
• Growth Management: The Core Regional Issue
• The Death and Life of American Regional Planning
• Part Two: Coalitions and Metropolitanism
• Coalition Building for Regionalism
• Business Coalitions as a Force for Regionalism
• Part Three: Race and Regionalism
• Gentleman's Agreement: Discrimination in Metropolitan America
• Addressing Regional Dilemmas for Minority Communities
• Part Four: A Contrarian Metropolitan View
• Empowering Families to Vote with Their Feet
• Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover