Current State of Urban and Regional

Development
• The total global population was 6.1 billion in the year 2000, having increased
by a factor of 2.4 times over a 50 year period.
• The urbanization rate (the number of people living in cities as a proportion of
total population) also rose 17.3 percentage points, from 29.7% in 1950 to
47.0% in 2000.
• These figures mean that almost half of the world’s population lives in urban
areas.
• Based on United Nations estimates of urban population, the global
urbanization rate is predicted to reach 60%1 in the year 2030.
• In developing countries in particular, the degree of population increase and
the progression of urbanization is large, and although nearly 40% of the
world’s urban population was concentrated in developing countries in 1950,
this figure is predicted to reach 80% in 2030, indicating that rapid
urbanization can be expected to continue in these countries.
 Rapid rate of urbanization in developing
countries
• The main factors giving rise to the progression of urbanization are:
1) natural growth in urban populations; 2) the flow of population
from rural to urban areas; and 3) the urbanization of rural areas.
• Urbanization itself produces both positive and negative effects,
and these are influenced by the maturity of the city, economic and
social conditions, the level of social infrastructure, and natural
characteristics.
• In developed countries, there are numerous examples where the
development of cities leads to development of the whole
country, and also of localities following on from the experience of
urbanization and actively taking on the creation of appealing
bases.
 Emergence of urban and regional problems

• When appropriate land use and improvements in urban

infrastructure and facilities are unable to keep up, rapidly
progressing urbanization gives rise to various problems,
including the deterioration of urban residential
environments, heavy traffic, the deterioration of public
safety, and the emergence of squatters and slums.
• Because large cities play a role as national and regional
centers, the emergence of these urban problems creates a
situation where the decline and paralysis of urban functions
and services further leads to stagnating economic and
industrial development in regional society and on a national
level.
• In short, there exist cases where urban problems expanded
into relatively wide scale problems affecting whole areas
surrounding cities, and into problems at national levels.
 Concentration and expansion
• ‘Concentration and expansion’ in urban areas, and
‘outflow and stagnation’ in regional areas are intimately
related. Discuss?
• It is important to be aware of this, and move to solve
problems with a regional view point.
• Urban and regional areas do not exist independent of
each other, but rather are interrelated and affect one
another.
• Therefore, it is essential that urban problems and
regional problems are not seen as individual matters,
but that a problem solving approach that encompasses
both, in other words, a comprehensive and integrated
approach built on a regional framework, is followed.
Definition of Urban and Regional Development
• The definitions and interpretations of “city,” or “urban,” and
“region” vary across countries and societies, but they can be
thought of as boundaries that indicate a particular place or area.
• In particular, cities may be taken as ‘areas in which large
numbers of people gather and reside, resulting in a very high
population density,’ or as ‘economic, political, and cultural
centers, and the focal point of major traffic routes.’
• A definition for the term “regional area” that contrasts it with
cities to indicate rural areas (including fishing and mountain
villages), does exist, however, the JICA publication, Approaches
for Systematic Planning of Development Projects, already
contains a definition for the term “rural area,” and our
cooperation in rural development has already been described.
• In this case “regions” are, therefore, defined as ‘wide areas that
encompass both urban and rural areas.’
 Derived benefits from Urban and regional
development
• The beneficiaries of urban and regional development are the
residents of the particular cities or regions, and also those in
surrounding areas that realize positive effects as development
progresses.
• In this respect, urban and regional development does not aim
to solve problems through individual and unrelated facilities
upgrades, but rather it looks at the various problems that
cities and regions face from an overall city or regional
perspective, mobilizing the hidden potential of the people
involved.
• Through an integrated approach that realizes greater
economic and social development, it brings about an improved
standard of living, greater security, and may even contribute to
the progress of the surrounding regions, or of the country as a
whole.
 URS PH.D. Coursework
National planning framework
National Planning
•

Sectoral Planning Local Area Planning Regional Planning

1- Sectoral Planning: Also known as economic planning. Sectors of economy

are developed to ensure production, employment and income generation at
various levels.
•Agricultural Planning: Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Grasslands,
Pastures, Forestry Etc.
•Development Projects Planning- Irrigation, Power, Communication, Defense.
•Industrial Planning: Mineral exploration, Mining, Manufacturing, agro
processing, dairy, meat, hides, skin, leather
•Infrastructural Planning- Housing, Transport, Water Supply, Drainage,
Sewerages, Open Spaces, Parks
•Planning for Facilities - Education, Health, Entertainment, Community services
etc.
Linkages of planning at various levels

National
Planning

Sectoral Regional
Planning Planning
 2-Local Area Planning
• Localities such as Woreda, Kebele, District, village,
coffee growing area etc. are examples of local areas.
• It is also called micro level planning. Local area
planning aims to improve the process of growth by
utilising the resources available at local levels.
• Plans are developed to augment growth at the local
areas. It also concerns making provisions of facilities
and services so that problems of local people are
resolved.
3- Dimensions of Regional Planning
• Regional Planning-Global scale: Sub Saharan Africa, IGAD, African Union,
European Union –Much larger area covering many countries.
• National Regions: Gambella, SNNPR, Oromia etc. Special Economic Region etc.
Problem Areas- Hill areas, Desert areas, Wetlands, Wildlife, Costal areas, Island
Regions
• Backward areas- Poverty Reduction Programs, Rehabilitation, Slum
Improvements
• Rural area Development: Community Development, Tribal area Development
• Special areas development
•  Urban Planning
• City Planning
• Metropolitan Planning
• Urban Regional Planning
 Defining Urban Regional Planning
• In broadest terms, urban and regional
planning is the process by which communities
attempt to control and/or design change and
development in their physical environments.
It has been practiced under many names:
town planning, city planning,
community planning, land use planning, and
physical environment planning.
 Defining urban regional planning (contd.)
• Planning, also called urban planning or city and regional
planning, is a dynamic profession that works to improve
the welfare of people and their communities by creating
more convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient, and
attractive places for present and future generations (APA,
2015).
• Urban planning is the design and regulation of the uses of
space that focus on the physical form, economic
functions, and social impacts of the urban environment
and on the location of different activities within it
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015).
 Necessity of Urban Regional Studies
•  Necessity of Urban Regional Planning?
• Most part of the world is getting urbanized and rate of urbanization is
much faster than the practice of urban regional planning. Therefore, we
need to develop abilities to plan the city regions and make the lives of
the citizens qualitatively better.
• Good planning helps create communities that offer better choices for
where and how people live.
• Planning helps communities to envision their future.
• It helps them find the right balance of new development and essential
services, environmental protection, and innovative change.
• http://www.globaldesignworkshop.com/portfolio/butterfly-city/
 Urban regional studies (URS)
•City and Regional Planning offers scope to design, evaluate, and implement policies
and programs that affect the social, economic, and physical development of urban
and regional areas, including those in the Developing World.
•Urban and regional planning is essential to the development of the communities
around us – especially in and around cities and densely populated areas. It’s a
dynamic field that can look quite different by area of specialization.
• However, there’s no question about just how important urban planners are to the
development of societies as a whole.
•People in these roles are responsible for developing policies and systems that create
the physical and economic infrastructure that supports diverse and growing
populations.
• In doing this, they must effectively manage resources and plan for current and
future needs of the population.
Decision making and resource allocation
• Planning and Development Planning is a decision making
and resource allocation process concerning development.
• The primary objective of any development is
improvement of the quality of life of the people rather
than just improvement of economic activity.
• Planning is an activity concerned with making choices
about future options involving improvement in quality of
life of the people (Rahman, 2008).
 Roles of urban regional planners
• Urban and Regional Planners develop and implement plans and
policies for the controlled use of urban and rural land, and advise
on economic, environmental and social factors affecting land use.
• Specialisations: Land Planner, Town Planner, Traffic and
Transport Planner.
• Urban and regional planning is a profession that promotes and
manages change through the planning, design, implementation
and management of public interventions in the development and
use of land.
  Objectives of Urban Regional Planning
• The purpose of urban planning is to help to better
understand the defects, mistakes, and weaknesses
in developing towns for attempting to eliminate
them gradually.
• The main objective of urban planning has to be
directed towards fulfilling a city’s most serious
needs and removing its problems (Rahman, 2008).
Principles of Urban Regional Planning

• Sustainability:
• Integrated planning
• Integrated budget
• Planning with Partners (stakeholders)
• Subsidiary
• Market responsiveness
• Access to land
• Appropriate tools
• Pro-poor inclusiveness
• Cultural variations
 What are the differences in Urban and
Regional Planning
• Regional planning deals with the efficient
placement of land-use activities,
infrastructure, and settlement growth across a
larger area of land than an individual city or
town. Regional planning is related to urban
planning as it relates land use practices on a
broader scale.
Why do we study urban regional planning

• Urban and regional planning is essential to

the development
.
of the communities around
us – especially in and around cities and
densely populated areas. ... In doing this,
they must effectively manage resources
and plan for current and future needs of the
population.
 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODELING - THEORY AND
PRACTICE Folke Snickars, A. E. Andersson,* and M.
Albegov* * International Institute for Applied Systems
Analysis, Laxenburg (Austria)
• Basic philosophy of regional development modeling:
• The purpose of this book is to present the current theory and practice
of regional development modeling in industrialized nations with
different resource endowments, economic structures, and political
systems.
• This will be done by giving examples of approaches and applications in
various countries, rather than providing a comprehensive overview.
• The book is primarily intended to give a broad coverage of approaches
and is not specifically oriented toward the theoretical aspects.
• A very important aim is to provide a basis for comparing the regional
problems tackled and the quantitative methods employed in market
and planned economies
 Growth strategies for developing regions
• An attempt will be made to demonstrate how modeling can be and is being
used as a tool for solving regional problems in the framework of regional
development planning.
• Regional development planning is defined here as the process of dealing with
the long-term overall structural economic problems of regions within a
nation.
• Thus, both the growth strategies for developing regions and the problems of
economically well- developed regions facing rapid structural change will be
highlighted.
• The emphasis is on resource distribution between regions rather than on
intraregional allocation problems.
• Although general, these statements imply that regional development
modeling is seen as taking a constructive role in regional and national
economic development.
 Balanced Regional Growth VS
Inter regional imbalances
• It should already be apparent that regional
development planning has different connotations in
different countries and also at different regional levels.
• This may be due in part to national variations in the
pattern of regional development (balanced regional
growth in some countries, interregional imbalances in
others).
• It may also be a reflection of the role of planning and
particularly the role of regional development planning
in the different countries.
 Role of markets in Regional planning
• In countries that have pure market economies, i.e., in which
planning is viewed primarily as a tool for correcting market
imperfections, regional development planning plays a minor
role.
• Regional development is not usually regarded as external to
the market and therefore little attention is given to policies
with a regional dimension.
• Such is the case, for instance, in the USA, where regional
planning is quite a recent phenomenon. In mixed economies
of the western-European type, regional development
planning has traditionally been aimed at removing
interregional discrepancies in income and employment
opportunities.
 Welfare VS Efficiency orientation of
Regional Planning
• The regional planning framework has been welfare-oriented
rather than efficiency-oriented.
• Even in the analysis of the long-term consequences for Sweden
of phasing out nuclear power, the regional effects are evaluated
mainly by employment indicators.
• In planned economies the regional dimension has always been
used as a means of increasing overall economic efficiency.
• Whereas support in the form of increased investment may be
given to chronically depressed regions in mixed-type market
economies, in planned economies investment is directed
primarily to regions with the potential for expansion.
• Examples of this are related to the development of territorial
production complexes and other industrial expansion projects
in Siberia.
Welfare VS Efficiency orientation of Regional Planning(Contd.)
• Of course, in market economies the efficiency-oriented regional
distribution of investment capital is governed by the regional
differentials in capital returns.
• This will, in principle, give rise to an economically efficient regional
distribution of labor (although this is questioned, for example, in the
so-called center-periphery theory).
• From this perspective, it is natural that optimal territorial planning
should also be used in planned economies to achieve such
interregional efficiency.
• In both types of system, therefore, interregional flows of labor and
capital necessary and sufficient to promote growth would tend to
emerge.
• The welfare-oriented role of regional development planning
characteristic of mixed economies serves to keep these processes of
structural change within socially acceptable limits.
• A provocative view of the success of Dutch regional policies in this
respect over the last decade.
 Complexity of regional development
Planning
• It is possible to assess the different approaches to regional development
modeling and the models characteristic of different countries using the
background outlined above.
• Regional development planning undeniably requires a multidimensional
approach.
• Regardless of the geographical level or the economic or political structure of
the region under study, the aim is to analyze and influence different
components of economic and social processes simultaneously.
• The complexity of regional development planning stems from the fact that
both spatial and temporal interdependencies are present and must be
included.
• Comprehensiveness calls for an explicit analysis of uncertainties and long-
term options, since many regional processes are inert and contain temporal
indivisibilities.
 Systems-analytic approaches in urban
regional development planning
• It is useful to assess the role of systems-analytic approaches in regional
development planning. In what directions have the theories and models
of regional development planning evolved in market and planned
economies?
• Are current planning problems being tackled with the same type of
models used in the last two decades, using methods which were
formulated for very different circumstances?
• Are problems similar to those that occurred in earlier decades now
being analyzed with different tools?
• Are the current quantitative modeling techniques quite general or more
specialized, i.e.,
• Is the same type of methodology used in countries with different
economic and political structures?
• As part of this background, the attempts at the
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA) to provide a framework for applied regional
development modeling will be described.
• This will be further illustrated by a summary of the
IIASA case studies, which were performed in a variety
of economic, social, and institutional settings.
• A summary of the regional issues that this work
suggests should be examined using systems analysis in
the future.
 Regional development analysis in the last
two decades
• There are a number of different ways in which
the evolution of new theories and models for
regional development planning over the last
two decades may be examined.
 Urban Regional Development Modeling Research
Special Scope Type of Model

Explanatory & Planning & Policy

Predictive

Interregional or multiregional Input/output Multiregional planning

Spatial general Economic growth Transport
equilibrium and/or investment cost
Central place minimization
Migration

Regional Input/output Mathematical programming

Basic/non basic Spatial competition
Growth pole

Intraregional Urban land Transportation/land-use

equilibrium optimization Cost-benefit
Transportation Accessibility
Spatial interaction
Lowry-inspired
 Development of interregional Or
multiregional modeling
• The original work of Leontief (1951) on national input-output
modeling, Isard (1951) formulated the general interregional
input output model.
• This piece of work encouraged the development of
techniques to overcome the computational difficulties
inherent in these input-output methods.
• For example, the works of Moses (1955) and Leontief and
Strout (1963).
• Although this model was formulated in the 1950s it has still
not been widely applied.
• A more direct reformulation of the Leontief model as a
regional input-output model has had greater success.
• It has been applied in various countries at all geographical
levels, often complemented by independent econometric
estimates of import export and consumption functions.
 Spatial general equilibrium models
• Spatial general equilibrium models are scarce, owing to the
lack of theories and the dearth of statistical information to
support or reject them.
• Lefeber (1958) formulated a model of this type, though the
brief treatment of the transportation sector has led to
problems in implementation. Location theoretical analysis
performed by Koopmans and Beckmann (1957), as well as
classical studies by Hotelling (1929), suggest different reasons
for the fact that market equilibria may not, even in theory, be
sustained in a multiregional system.
• Koopmans and Beckmann (1957) single out the indivisibility of
certain factors as one possible explanation, while Hotelling
(1929) stresses the small number of actors.
• Although both of these results have been questioned in more
recent research, applied general equilibrium models of
interregional development are still uncommon.
 Urban & Regional Planning: Best Practices

• Being a profession of practice, it is important for

planners to find and use evidence-based best practices.
• However, best practices research is frequently not
published in journal articles, but can rather be found in
technical reports, case studies, and more.
• As such, it can take some sleuthing to find this kind of
literature. Below are some tips that may help you
discover best practices literature. 
 Regional planning in Western Europe: The contemporary context

• A number of changes over the past decade have transformed

the context and hence the prospects for effective regional
planning in Western Europe.
• These include the changes in economic dynamics, the shifts in
political ideologies, the emergence of initiatives at EU level, the
growing strength of regionalism and sub‐state nationalisms.
• Probably most important has been the spread of neo‐
liberalism; here most emphasis is placed on this dimension.
• These changes have generated a variety of new forms of
regional planning, ranging in strength, functions and
significance. 
 Shifts in practices of regional planning
• The trajectories of change have differed considerably from
one country to another, but there have been shifts in
practice in several EU states.
• In particular the relationship to other levels and kinds of
planning or state action has been changing—to economic
strategies and policies, to urban and local planning
processes and to planning of transport and energy
infrastructure.
• The analysis concentrates on the relationship between
regional planning and spatial political and economic
change, as the latter has been variously theorized recently.