The Case for Megapolitan Growth Management in the 21st Century: Regional Urban Planning and Sustainable Development in the United States

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of urban planning issues in the United States related to automobile-dependent regional sprawl and discusses the need for a metropolitan sustainable development governing framework for growth management in the twenty-first century. The paper discusses how unsustainable regional sprawl is now legally required throughout most metropolitan areas of the United States as a result of local zoning, growth management, and parking programs. The paper examines the potential benefits of creating a metropolitan governing framework to identify and regulate "growth areas" in a region and how linking these areas to regional transit planning is necessary to achieve the development of higher-density, mixed use, and intensive urban core job/housing areas where people could live, work, shop, and play without the use of the automobile. The paper further discusses some related lessons from Europe and discusses potential legal and political issues and institutional arrangements related to creating this type of regional sustainable development framework for urban planning in the United States.