Regions, Megaregions, and Sustainability

Wheeler S. Regions, megaregions, and sustainability, Regional Studies. The rapid expansion of urbanized regions is problematic for sustainable development. Urbanization at large scales has inherent sustainability problems, and planning institutions and governance mechanisms have had limited success at the metropolitan scale, let alone at a megaregional one. A vision of more sustainable regional development includes an emphasis on balanced local communities to reduce regional mobility demands; the management of land, resources, and population to live within regional limits; efforts to improve equity and build social capital; and on economic development that strengthens the quality of the region's social and ecological systems rather than the quantity of production and consumption.