Concept of Regional Planning

Regional Planning is multidisciplinary approach aims at holistic development of a region.

According to Mackaye “Regional Planning is an attempt at discovering the plans of the nature for the
attainment of Man’s ends upon the Earth”.

According to Muniford, “Regional Planning asks not how wide an area can be brought under the
aegis of the Metropolis, but how the population and civic facilities can be distributed so as to
promote and stimulate a vivid and creative life throughout a whole region”.

Regional Planning is a specific type of planning, based on, specific planning structure for inducing
public action aimed at societal well being. It implies that Regional Planning is concerned
fundamentally with the society in the context of space.

Regional Planning considered as a geo-technology for comprehensive development of regions

Regional Planning at different spatial levels ensures the fuller development of the potentialities of
the smallest unit, consisting a region. Regional Planning should viewed as essentially a means to
strength the national economy through the mechanism of

Regional Planning by evaluating the potentials of sub regions and to develop them.

Need and Importance of Regional

Instruction: Start with a definition of Regional Planning

The need of Regional Planning can be discussed under the following broad theme;

1. To minimize the Regional Disparities: There are wide Regional Disparities in the levels of resource
utilization as well as in the levels of development. In order to minimize the Regional Disparities, the
developmental processes need to be channelized in the right direction and need to plan properly.
Such developmental processes shall yield best results if these are based upon the principles of
Regional Planning.

2. To resolve the Critical Problems: broadly speaking, the way the environmental conditions are
being degraded and are posing a serious threat to the human welfare, Regional Planning is becoming
more and more of necessity rather than a matter of choice.

3. To address the problems of rapidly increasing population: The rapidly increasing population,
particularly during the last 3-4 decades, has increased the pressure on world resources
tremendously. This has also altered the population- resources relationship in many areas. Some of
poorly endowed resource region are heavily populated now. This phenomena posing serious threat
to not only human habitability but also to the physical environment. To ensure better habitability
conditions as well as for the survival and continued welfare of physical environment, the
developmental processes should have to be based upon the principles of Regional Planning.

4. To ensure the integrated development of Functional Regions: the regional boundaries of many
functional regions(display strong functional Unity) do not conform with administrative boundaries.
The City-periphery regions and the drainage basin region are typical examples. The NCR of India has
its areal spread into fourstates; similarly, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has its spread in
seven states of USA. In order to achieve an integral development of all such regions without wasting
the limited resources, all developmental planning should have to be based upon the principles of
Regional Planning

5. To recognize the futuristic Regional Realities : Rapid development in the field of information and
communication technology all over the world resulted in (a) revolution in the field of transportation
and communication, (b) broken the rural isolation and has increased the interaction between rural-
urban communities (c) increased the volume of traffic and trades (d) increased the population
mobility both inter regional and intra regional (e) finally given rise to new regional boundaries with
intensified integration. All these developments necessitate the futuristic planning efforts. We must
recognize these regional realities. The Principles of Regional Planning are becoming more and more
critically important to recognize these regional realities.

6. Planning for less developed Countries: Most of the developing nations are poorly endowed and
have innumerable task in hand in the process of economic reconstruction and transformation.
Appalling poverty, poor living condition, unemployment, urban overcrowding, inadequate and
inefficient health and sanitation, education, housing, etc., these are some of the characteristics of
these nations. Moreover, they are technologically backward as well. Since Regional Planning
addresses itself to the host of problems, it has special significance for the less developed countries.

7. Regional Planning for Newly Independent Countries: The 20th century witnessed the creations of
newly independent countries. These nations have their own aspirations priorities and problems.
Their colonial infrastructure sometimes fails to meet the requirements of the changed scenarios. The
developmental processes based upon the fundamental principles of Regional Planning alone can
take care of the changing conditions in all such newly independent nations.

8. Regional Planning needs arises due to failing of all other types of Planning: It has already been
realized by the world community that all other types of planning i.e. sectoral planning, functional
planning, area planning etc has failed to deliver the desired result. Regional Planning has displayed
its multi-purpose usefulness.

Aims and Objectives of Regional Planning

Conservation of life

Conservation of Resources

Conservation of Human Energy

Community Education

Sustainable Development

Renationalization of Land Use

Rationalization of Population Distribution

Re constructing the Environment

Creating Neighbourhood Units

Perfect Regional Mobility System

Types of Regional Planning

Planning may of following Types

Functional Planning

Area Planning

Short term- long term Planning

Micro, Meso, Macro Planning

Regional Planning

There are Three Types of Regional Planning

1. Inter Regional Planning

2. Inter local Planning

3. Locational Planning

1. Inter Regional Planning: It is part of National Planning along with Sectoral and Global Planning. All
three are interrelated field of National Planning. Through inter regional planning, the planner try to
solve;

a. The problems of allocations of tasks and means of every region of the country

b. It also aims at outlining the role of each region in the formulation and implementation of national
objectives

There are two approaches of the central planning agency to the inter regional Planning

a) Passive or Ex- Post Approach

b) Active or Ex Ante Approach

In passive approach, the interregional planning remains passive since the basic decisions are made
anyway within the broad framework of global and sectoral planning.In active approach, the
interregional planning is active agent of planning process. In such condition the national planners
accept the regional dimension as one of the important decision making criteria for all planning
activities. In this approach the global and sectoral planning are influenced by the interregional
considerations.

2. Inter-local Planning: There is an important difference in scale between interregional and inter-
local planning. Interregional planning is activities at national level while the inter-local at the
regional level. These type of planning needs to be developed within the institutional framework of
regional administration or government. Inter-local planning agencies formulate different planning
objectives for a given areal unit basedon different models and methods depending upon the socio-
economic and political structure of the region.

The Inter-local Planning agency performs two functions;

a. Primo: To rationalize the needs of given region in relation to the central planning agency and it
policy.

b. Seconduo: To rationalize the allocation of tasks and means among different localities within the
regionThe position and activity of Inter-local Planning is determined by
(a) relation between Central and Regional governments

(b) relation between different forces of planning process

(c) Nature of the region in a given country; Weak or Strong region

3. Locational Planning: Interregional and Inter-local Planning activities are considered as explicit
spatial dimensions of the planning system. However, these planning activities are very weak without
the cooperation and support of sectoral agencies, institutions, and enterprises which promote the
development in sectoral perspectives. The locational Planning, the implicit dimension of the
planning system is very often more important than explicit dimension.

Unit 2
Characteristics of planning region
“A planning region must be large enough to take investment decisions of an economic size,
must be able to supply its own industry with the necessary labour, should have a homogeneous
economic structure, contain at least one growth point and have a common approach to and
awareness of its problems”

Planning for a variety of is regions that together form a system and subordinate system.
...

• A planning region should neither be too big nor too small.

• The boundary should be flexible.

• There should be a natural cohesion.

• It should have economic harmony.

• There should be social harmony.

• Functional unity.

Delineation of planning region

Regional delineation is the first step in the preparation of any regional development plan
toensure tentative operational area of planning. Within the planning region the frame of
allregional studies could be undertaken and development envisaged.

Delineation of formal regions involves the grouping together of local units which have similar
characteristics according to certain clearly defined criteria and which differ significantly from
the units outside the region on the basis of certain chosen criteria.

Variables for delineation of formal region (homogeneous):

Land use characteristics

Demographic characteristics

Transport infrastructure

Social service and public utilities

Socio-economic structures