Students are expected to complete all the required readings before the start of class and be ready to actively participate in class discussions. Written assignments and presentations listed below. There will be no final exam. The work load (readings and paper assignments) is fairly evenly spaced throughout the semester. Please read these guidelines about writing, coursework and academic integrity

Overview of Assignments [red: updated due date]

Here are details about the modules, including presentations and short response papers:

Mapping, Visualizing the Region [including student presentations of regional maps/representations] (Sep 19)

The goal of this first assignment is to explore the varied ways to understand a region: its definition, delineation and internal structure. Various questions arise: What differentiates a region from a city and from a state? How do ecologic, economic, administrative and social criteria lead to differing boundaries of a region? This is less a cartographic exercise per se, but rather an exploratory, pow-stakes exercise to understand the conception of a region using the process of mapping of a region (e.g., the growing Atlanta metro area; the Bos-Wash mega region; etc.). The goal is to think more explicitly about the definitions and delineations of a "region" — and how the view (and boundaries) of a region might vary if viewed by an ecologist, a hydrologist, a labor economist, a political scientist, a transportation planner, etc.

1. Select a region (both US and international examples encouraged). It could be large or small, a metropolitan region (with a strong central city), a polycentric region (with multiple cores), or even a region that lacks a defining urban core.
2. Briefly describe this region. (The most common region here may be a metropolitan area of one or more central cities and the hinterlands. But you might also try to map other kinds of regions, e.g., rural regions without central cities; polycentric regions; megaregions; cultural regions; etc.)
3. Then define the approximate boundaries of this region based on one or several different criteria: economic, ecological, and political-administrative (and optionally: statistically and/or socio-culturally). Briefly explain the logic of your criteria. How do the boundaries vary depending on the criteria used?
4. [the central task] Develop one or multiple maps to illustrate the various boundaries you have defined. (You can draw the maps by hand (and then scan), use a computer program, create a collage, or any other combination of techniques to create your map.) We will review your representations in class. [You might review the lecture slides from the first day's class lecture -- in Canvas -- for examples of regional mapping] See this page to share ideas about creating maps. [NOTE: original, student-created maps preferred. Do note sources of base maps and other information on maps. If you do instead reproduce existing maps published elsewhere, do provide a complete citation of the source.]
5. Add your presentation slide(s) to this shared google slide file.

REQUEST (please complete by Sep 14): As you work on this assignment, please fill out this informal questionnaire about your selected region.

Here are some themes, questions, elements that may arise:

• Is your focus on borders or centers?
• Are regions defined by identity, natural features, infrastructure, political boundaries, economic areas, commuting, etc.?
• Do you view a region as a contiguous space? as a network? as a patchwork of separate communities? as primarily a spatial or social entity? etc.
• How to deal with multiple layers of regions, each with its own boundary?
• Does a region require a central city? How about regions with multiple centers, or regions that lack a dominant central city?
• Do regions with explicit government authority have a stronger regional identity than those without?
• [in the US] are counties viable and/or ideal building blocks of regions?
• Is there a pattern of how regions are defined depending on where the region is? (e.g., urban East Coast vs. the lower density West? US vs. rest of world)?
• How do you deal with areas that might be part of several regions? Are regions mutually exclusive (and exhaustive)? Or are they overlapping and incomplete? (Examples: New Jersey and the NYC vs. Philadelphia regions; or Maryland and the Washington DC vs Baltimore region.) Is this where the idea of polycentric megaregions is useful?
• Some regions seem to have readily identifiable "natural" borders (an ocean, a river, a mountain range, etc.), while others have more uncertain or ambiguous boundaries.

Group Presentation (you will present on ONE of the following six dates: Sep 28, Oct 10, Oct 26, Nov 7, Nov 16, Nov 30)

The class will divide into six presentation groups -- one for each module (no presentation for the "history and politics module").

• Group size will vary from 2-4 students depending on class size. (Important: be sure that each group has at least TWO members before becoming the third member of a group.)
• Each group is responsible for making a major presentation on the last day of their respective modules.
• These presentations may include images, maps, multimedia, handouts, etc.
• Students are encouraged to make creative, analytical, engaging, visually rich presentations that
  • (a) address the themes of the module,
  • (b) add new material on the theme not covered by the course readings,
  • (c) identify and answer several critical questions raised by the module, and
  • (d) encourage discussion.
• Group members should be ready to answer questions posed by the class members.
• Groups should begin meeting at least several weeks before their scheduled presentation date and begin preparations. Use this preparation time to read outside documents on the theme, prepare visuals, develop your presentations structure, themes and main analytical points, and develop a division of labor within your group. (Note: the goal is NOT to summarize all the readings in the module; instead, explore more deeply and innovatively some of the themes and ideas that emerge during the module. Your presentation should complement and augment the module's readings, not duplicate them.)
• This course explores the complexities and many dimensions of regions (regional institutions, both governmental and non-profit; the natural environment; social justice; race, politics & culture; demography and migration; economics; transportation; infrastructure; history). I encourage you to explore at least several aspects of your region.
• If your selected presentation group suggests a range of possible geographies (e.g., the Sunbelt, ecoregions and global regions groups), feel free to select one or more regions as a focus of your presentation. Feel free to discuss your options with me early on in the process of developing your presentation.
• I highly recommend that each group meets with the instructor a week or more before your presentation to discuss your ideas and presentation strategy. Use the google calendar link to sign up for office hours.
• These are major presentations; you are expected to put a lot of work into preparation. Feel free to be creative and develop interactive class exercises, use different media (e.g., images, data, text, video, maps, etc.)

Group Formation will begin early in the semester, so please plan ahead and signup for ONE group on this google doc signup sheet

Please upload your presentation slides to this shared class google drive folder (ideally as either a google slide file of a pdf file, landscape format suitable for projection.)

Five Short (3 page) Response Papers (Oct 6, Oct 20, Nov 3, Nov 17, Dec 3)

The course is organized into modules, each on a specific theme. For each module, I will issue a question that relates to the course readings. Each student is to write an original response to the question. The goals of the assignment are to encourage all students to actively engage with the readings, to keep up with the weekly reading assignments, and to continuously relate the readings to major questions in regional planning. Late assignments result in point reductions.

• You are to complete all five response papers, including for the module that includes your group presentation.
• There are no response papers for two modules: the first (on history and debates in regional planning) and the last (on global/comparative regionalism)
• I have set the due dates many days after the conclusion of each module so that you will have time to reflect on each module (and go back to review selected readings).

• 3 pages (double-spaced)
• upload to Canvas
• Write concise, analytical answers.
• Refer to readings where appropriate (including materials found on the Internet), using proper citations (either use full citations in footnotes or use a bibliography).
• These assignments are NOT a place to simply create study notes or purely descriptive summaries of the readings.  Instead, use your essays as a place to demonstrate knowledge of the readings, to address critical debates in regional planning, and to explore connections between various ideas in the readings planning. Because there is no major term paper required for this course, you should put as much serious effort and thought into the sum of these short assignments as you would put into a major, formal paper.
• You may strongly agree with the readings for the week, vehemently object, be ambivalent, or not be moved either way.  In any case, be thoughtful, reflective, critical and nuanced in your answers. 
• You are encouraged to discuss the readings with other students.  However, each student is expected to submit his/her own individual, original responses.
• additional writing advice

Response Questions

1. San Francisco Bay Area (due Oct 6)

Answer ONE of the following questions:

a. “Every city produces its own antithesis: a working, living, vibrant countryside. This is true in a double sense of an urbanized countryside and a ruralized city. We need to take account of both senses of the country in the city. On the one hand, the economic process of urbanization necessarily demands a countryside to service urban needs: farms, quarries, reservoirs, dumps, and the rest. The urban periphery is, in an important sense, a huge backyard of the city, and one that is fiercely exploited. That is the urbanized countryside.” (Walker, Richard A. 2009. Country in the City : The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area. Seattle, WA, USA: University of Washington Press, p. 5)
Regions typically contain a range of land uses and landscapes, from dense central cities, urban neighborhoods, inner and outer suburbs, farmland, open space, etc. And thus one way to view regional development planning is the management and regulation of this relationship and interplay (and often tension) between the city and the countryside (echoing Walker’s title). What is Walker’s understanding of the relationship between the city and the countryside (as seen in the SF Bay Area)? Does this lead to a new view of regional development?

b. The San Francisco Bay Area has a reputation of being a leader in regional environmental efforts. Is this reputation deserved? Is it a model for other metropolitan regions? (In your answer, where appropriate, differentiate between various types of environmental efforts, from open space & habitat preservation, air and water quality, energy production and use, water use, recycling/composting, public transit, walking/bicycling; etc.)

c. The Bay Area has some of the most expensive housing in the country, leading to a housing affordability crisis, long commutes, stress on potential and current homeowners, and other challenges. What kinds of regional planning (and regional policy) tools have been used to address this crisis? What other tools might they try? Overall, should communities try to address the lack of affordable housing at the regional scale? (Or is it best done at the local, state and/or federal levels?)

d. The Bay Area arguably has one of the most dynamic and profitable regional economies not just in the US, but in the world. Yes, there are big clusters of economic activity in the three biggest central cities (San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland), but much of the growth in new sectors (especially the tech sectors) happens outside these three cities. That is, we arguably need to speak about the regional economy, not individual city economies here. (Which differs from the old school language when we spoke of Pittsburgh as the center of steel, Detroit for cars, Akron for rubber/tires, Las Vegas for gambling, New York for finance, etc.). What are the economic advantages of developing and hosting tech sector firms not just in one or several cities, but rather in a larger regional context across many communities and counties? And do you think this region-wide, rather than city-specific, scale of the tech sector was intentionally and consciously planned (either by the public and/or private sectors), or did it just “emerge”?

2. Detroit & SE Michigan (Oct 20)

Answer ONE of the following questions (see the above guidelines about the use of readings, citations, format, etc.)

a. Metro Detroit (aka SE Michigan) has a reputation for having weak regional planning. Is this reputation accurate? What are the primary explanations found in the readings? Do you find these explanations convincing? What explanation might the readings overlook?

b. Regionalism has many dimensions (economic, cultural, environmental, etc.), and a multi-faceted regional planning effort can (or should) include a wide range of projects, programs and policies. Yet promoting strong transportation infrastructure is often a primary focus of regional efforts. Some might even argue that the quality of a region’s transportation system is a barometer of its overall ability to promote and manage its regional development. If this relationship is true, what does the state of SE Michigan’s transportation system say about the region? To answer this question, you might identify several features of SE Michigan’s transportation system and use these as indicators or proxies of the nature of regional planning/coordination/governance in SE Michigan. (Note: you could focus on a range of features, such as the geography of the network, financing, use/ridership, administration (including local vs. county vs. regional agencies), level of inter-jurisdictional cooperation, etc. And on freight or passenger networks; public transit or private vehicles; rail or bus; etc.).

c. How do you view and evaluate the role of SEMCOG in the region? For example, is it a strong or weak institution? Does it have much power? How does it compare to similar agencies in other regions (such as ABAG and MTC in the San Francisco Bay Area)? Do you have optimism that the agency could become more proactive and influential in the future (e.g., to promote greater equality between Detroit and suburbs? to promote stronger mass transit? to pursue regional climate change goals? etc.). If there was a job listing at SEMCOG, would you apply?

d. Scenario: Imagine that a group of international planning students is planning a visit to Detroit to understand American regional development, city-suburb relationships, the geography of American racial politics, and the peculiar/exceptional nature of metropolitan development in America in general (and Detroit specifically). Prepare a concise memo/overview that provides these students with a clear and useful explanation of the most important elements and explanations of the Southeast Michigan’s regional characteristics. What short list of readings would you recommend (to have them read on their overseas flight to DTW)? Optional additional element: if you were to organize a half (or full) day bus tour of the region, what would you show them (and how would this route & stops illustrate the region’s key dynamics)? [Note: if it would help you visualize your visitors and focus your task, you might imagine that the students are all coming from a specific country, e.g., Germany, Ghana, Brazil, China, etc.]

3. New York City and the Tri-State area (Nov 3)

Answer ONE of the following questions (see the above guidelines about the use of readings, citations, format, etc.)

(A) A leitmotif of this course is the advantages of regional coordination and planning to overcome myopic localism, fragmentation and inequality. Yet an apparent subcurrent of Benjamin and Nathan's analysis is the downside of regionalism, and the loss of important local activities when the scale of government gets too large (even when a city itself, such as New York, gets too large). In your essay, articulate and then critique the authors' view of regionalism vs. localism. How does regional governance in the New York region either respect and/or undermine positive local government and governance?

(B) Benjamin and Nathan (2001) note that "equity arguments to promote collaboration -- urging fairness between races and classes -- rarely work" [p. 30]. They go on to argue that "social equity is best advanced as a by-product of regional reform, not as its social focus" [p. 32]. In your essay, examine how the authors use the various case studies in the New York region to support this argument. Do you agree or disagree with their conclusion? Explain why.

(C) The Regional Plan Association has developed four plans for the New York region over the last 90+ years, each one reflecting its era's distinctive planning traditions, ideologies and challenges to the region. Select at least two plans and use them as a framework to analyze how the New York region and approaches to regional development have changed over time.

(D) The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a large and powerful organization that controls key infrastructure and properties at the regional scale. To what extent should it be considered a tacit regional planning authority (by another name)? Discuss to what extent the activities of the Port Authority constitute "regional planning" (which, in turn, requires you to provide a concise set of criteria of what you think regional planning is). Finally, is the PANYNJ a model of regional planning that should (or could) be reproduced in other parts of the US?

(E) The greater New York metro region extends into three states (hence the “Tri-State region”). How does this multi-state political geography shape the dynamics of regional planning in the region? What distinctive problems arise in regional planning that crosses state boundaries, and what kinds of solutions/workarounds have been developed to engage these challenges? Are there any advantages of this situation?

4. Sunbelt regions (e.g., Los Angeles, Texas, Atlanta) (Nov 17)

Answer ONE of the following questions (see the above guidelines about the use of readings, citations, format, etc.)

(A) Can one speak of a “Sunbelt Regionalism"? Do the patterns and politics of either regional development and/or regional planning in the Sunbelt regions differ in substantive ways from the regionalism found in eastern and Midwestern metropolitan areas? If so, what might explain these differences? (To help focus your answer, you might pick a few metro examples, and focus on one or more topics, such as land use, transportation, natural resource management, growth control & sprawl, social inequality, etc.)

(B) Pick two Sunbelt metro areas (e.g., Los Angeles, Atlanta, part or all of the Texas Triangle, a region in Florida, etc.) and compare the central themes and challenges of regional planning and coordination. What factors might explain the critical similarities or differences between these two regions?

(C) Some of the fastest growing metropolitan areas (by population size) are located in the South, Southwest and West. (Selected 2010-2020 US Census population growth: Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX MSA: 33.0%; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA: 25.2%; Raleigh-Cary, NC MSA: 25.1%; Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ MSA: 15.6%; Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA MSA: 15.2%). Many older metro areas in the Northeast and Midwest grew far slower (e.g., New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA: 6.6%; Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA: 4.7%; Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI MSA: 2.2%; Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA: 1.7%). Do we need two theories of regional development (and perhaps two different approaches to regional planning): one for fast growing regions and one for slow growth regions? (As with Question A, you might pick a few metro examples, and focus on one or more topics, such as land use, transportation, natural resource management, growth control & sprawl, social inequality, etc.)

5. Environmentalism, Sustainability and Natural Resources at the Regional Scale (Dec 3)

Answer ONE of the following questions (see the above guidelines about the use of readings, citations, format, etc.)

(A) (Re)defining ecoregions: One might define (and map) an ecoregion using various criteria: watersheds/drainage basins; ecological zones (e.g., based on animal and plant communities); agricultural zones (e.g., using the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map); just to name a few. In your essay, discuss the power (and limitations) of the concept of the ecoregion and the various ways one might define and map it. Do you find the “ecoregion” (e.g., as concept, as map, as set of criteria, as ethos) useful or not? Explain. [Note/mea culpa: I have been using the terms ecoregion and bioregion in an interchangeable way — and likely are conflating two distinct terms in a way that ecologists, conservation biologists, etc. would find imprecise or problematic. Sometimes I simply have used “ecoregionalism” to refer to an emphasis on ecological systems and environmental efforts (rather than economic, infrastructural or social priorities) done at the regional — as opposed to local or national — scale. Feel free to substitute and/or redefine terms for your essay, such as ecoregion, bioregion, ecosystem.]

(B) Regional Strategies: Identify at least two potential strategies/tools/planning policies (real or potential) to promote greater sustainability and/or to combat climate change at the regional scale. Explain how these strategies work and explore their strengths and limitations. [Notes: (1) These might be strategies that can only work at the regional scale, not the local or national scales — or strategies that can work at many geographic scales but arguably work particularly well at the regional scale. (2) These strategies can be already in practice, such as greenbelts/urban growth boundaries; regional rail networks; urban conservation land trusts; etc., or strategies that are still proposed, speculative or aspirational.]

(C) Regional environmental justice? Advocates of regionalism have long promoted the potential (sometimes real, sometimes elusive) of the regional perspective to both acknowledge social inequality (whether the centuries’ old inequality between rural agricultural landscapes and urban industrial & commercial centers, or the inequalities between middle-class suburban enclaves and struggling post-industrial urban communities) and the potential of regional-scale planning and governance to promote social justice. These past two weeks we have turned to the topic of regions, natural resources, environmental sustainability and climate change. In your short essay, examine the connections (existing and/or potential) between regionalism and environmental justice. Does the idea of “regional environmental justice” carry weight and meaning?

(D) Water, Regions and Sustainability: The path towards more sustainable communities arguably requires changes in ways that regions extract, use, distribute and conserve a range of natural resources: air, land, energy, minerals, flora, fauna, water, etc. Is water unique in this list? Examine the distinctiveness of water as a natural resource and the resulting form/dynamics of water resource policies and politics/conflicts. That is, how is water different from other natural resources, and what implications do these specific characteristics of water resources have on shaping a sustainable water resource strategy at the regional level?

(E) Turning an MPO green? You work for an MPO, which focuses mostly on transportation projects (plus providing regional data analysis and forecasts). Your boss comes back from a conference on sustainability, climate change and eco-regionalism and excitedly wants to elevate ecological principles and priorities in the MPO's work. (Your boss senses that there might be something distinctive and powerful about the regional dimension of sustainability, but doesn’t know exactly what this may be and whether it is true.) Your boss tasks you with writing a 3-page memo on the specific role of the regional scale (and regional planning and coordination) in promoting sustainable development. Write this memo. (If it helps, you might pick one region or MPO to give memo task greater specificity.)

Final class - lessons learned (presentation & slide: Dec 5) (2-page text: Friday, Dec. 8)

This last session will provide an opportunity to reflect on the course, and develop a set of conclusions and/or principles about regional planning.

TASK: Each student is to prepare a concise, insightful distillation of what have been, for you, the most important or resonant (or disconcerting) lessons/principles/ideas/themes in your encounters with regionalism, regional development and regional planning. I welcome a range of approaches and themes, and I encourage you to be rigorous and creative.

You are to prepare several items:
(a) a brief (2 minute) oral presentation that concisely highlights your central points. For this presentation, prepare a slide to be shared with the class on this shared google slide file.
[NOTE:  one slide will do, but if you find it easier to present your materials on two slides, that is also an option.] Consider various formats, including diagrams, maps, tables, illustrations, a concept map, a flow chart, a numbered list.,a storyboard, a comic strip, a Socratic dialogue. Use supplementary text where appropriate to elaborate specific ideas/points.

(b) A two-page narrative (double-spaced fine) that concisely explores these ideas. [to be uploaded to Canvas by Friday, Dec. 8]