Regional Planning Glossary

The process by which a municipality expands its boundaries to incorporate adjacent unincorporated land, affecting regional development patterns.

The cleanup and reuse of previously developed land that may be contaminated, often promoted in regional plans to reduce greenfield consumption.

The maximum population or level of development a region can sustain without degrading its natural resources or infrastructure.

A long-range document adopted by a local or regional government that sets goals and policies for land use, transportation, housing, and public services.

A growth management requirement that public infrastructure (roads, water, schools) must be available at the time new development occurs.

A suburban concentration of office, retail, and entertainment that functions as an urban center, typically emerging from uncoordinated growth.

A systematic evaluation of the potential environmental effects of a proposed development or plan, often required for major regional projects.

A planned community concept by Ebenezer Howard combining residences, industry, and agriculture within a self-contained town surrounded by a greenbelt.

Computer-based tools for capturing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced data used extensively in regional analysis.

An interconnected network of natural areas and open spaces that provides ecosystem services at a regional scale.

A band of open land surrounding an urban area established to prevent sprawl, protect agriculture, and provide recreation.

A set of regulatory techniques used to guide the location, timing, and intensity of development within a region.

Collaborative arrangements between local, regional, and state governments to address shared planning challenges.

The process of regulating and managing the use of land to achieve orderly development and balance competing demands.

A federally required body responsible for coordinating transportation planning in urbanized areas with populations over 50,000.

A regional spatial structure organized around multiple interconnected centers of economic and social activity.

The coordinated planning of land use, transportation, economic development, and environmental management across multi-jurisdictional geographic areas.

A strategic method that models multiple plausible futures to evaluate the robustness of planning strategies under uncertainty.

A set of development principles that promote compact, walkable, transit-oriented communities and preserve open space.

The fair distribution of resources, services, and development opportunities across geographic areas within a region.

The methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces at various scales.

An independent governmental unit that provides a specific service such as water, transit, or parks across multiple jurisdictions.

Compact, mixed-use development concentrated around public transit stations to maximize ridership and reduce car dependence.

A regulatory boundary that separates urban land from rural land to direct development inward and prevent sprawl.

A land area that channels rainfall and snowmelt to a common body of water, forming the natural unit for water resource planning.