Understanding regions is important because processes that occur at a regional scale are critical factors in shaping the well-being of people and communities within the regional boundaries, as well as the sustainability of associated biological and physical systems.

  
Numerous social currents are making their way around the world.   We see political and economic restructuring and competition; increasing environmental pressure and global climate change; and uneven geographical development. With such uneven development come concerns around economics, land use planning, employment, affordable housing, and transportation. Some say these processes have created a “regional world”  This begs asking an important “regional question:” ‘How do processes of globalization reorganize places and territories into socio-economic, cultural, political, and administrative/planning regions, and what are the implications of such reorganization?’ 

The regional question is important because regions are made up of places that have unique geographical locations, cultural meanings and values, and material forms. These places are directly and indirectly impacted by broader currents in ways that cannot be understood at any other geographic scale. Regions matter in how they are constructed and how their boundaries are formed, not only through what is included, but also through what is excluded. It is this ongoing formation of the regional boundary that is increasingly a concern: how regional boundaries are negotiated, who they include and exclude, and their implications for social, organizational and institutional, biological, and physical processes of the region. 

By thinking regionally, we can better understand change, We can work to create more livable, sustainable, healthy and just places and processes for the residents of the region.

References

Keating, Michael and John Loughlin. 1997. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-13 in The Political Economy of Regionalism, edited by M. Keating and J. Loughlin. Portland, OR: Frank Crass.

Storper, Michael. 1997. The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.