Regional Planning: The Resilience of an Imperative

Abstract

This entry offers a historical perspective and is therefore principally rooted in a Western geopolitical context. It probes into what it means to practice regional planning, before proceeding with a reflection on its evolution as a form of planning practice. It points to key texts that have charted this transition, beginning with early writings by authors who helped initiate the process of internationalizing regional planning. It stresses, above all, the resilience of this “regional imperative” against paradigmatic shifts in regional planning doctrine – from its early advancement, through to its subsequent fall and rise and recent calls for its reconfiguration or transformation.