Overview

As the US population grows, potentially adding more than 110 million people by 2050, cities and their suburbs will continue expanding, eventually meeting the suburbs of neighbouring cities and forming continuous urban megaregions. There are now at least a dozen megaregions in the US, such as the one extending from Richmond, Virginia, to Portland, Maine, and the megaregion that runs from Santa Barbara through Los Angeles and San Diego, down to the Mexican border. In Designing the Megaregion, planning and urban design expert Jonathan Barnett takes a fresh look at designing megaregions. Barnett argues that planning megaregions requires ecological literacy and a renewed commitment to social equity in order to address the increasing pressure this growth puts on natural, built, and human resources. If current trends continue, new construction in megaregions will put additional stress on natural resources, make highway gridlock and airline delays much worse, and cause each region to become more separate and unequal. Barnett offers an incremental approach to designing at the megaregional scale that will help prepare for future economic and population growth. Designing the Megaregion explains how we can, and should, redesign megaregional growth using mostly private investment, without having to wait for large-scale, government initiatives and trying to create whole new governmental structures. Barnett explains practical initiatives for adapting development in response to a changing climate, improving transportation systems, and redirecting the forces that make megaregions very unequal places. There is an urgent need to begin designing megaregions, and Barnett offers a hopeful way forward using systems that are already in place.

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9781642830439

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Jonathan Barnett's practical suggestions for coordinated action at the local, regional, state, and federal levels to build sustainable, equitable megaregions will be of interest to planners, policy makers, and others engaged in urban issues. --David Rouse, FAICP, Urban and Regional Planning Consultant & former Managing Director of Research and Advisory Services for the American Planning Association Planning Slim and thorough account. -- Planning Megaregions are becoming the new engines of our society. Jonathan Barnett opens new horizons to the challenge of integrating economic development, social equity, and environmental sustainability. Designing the Megaregion is a meaningful and inspiring contribution for the future of designing cities. --Alfonso Vegara, Founder and Group President of Fundacion Metropoli Planning Jonathan Barnett clearly describes the roots and relevancy of many urban and regional forms and systems, providing an opportunity for shared understanding and collaboration by everyone interested in the fate of cities. Especially important, he lays out the relationship of fundamental policy choices to racial, environmental, and economic inequities, as well as pathways toward more equitable development. Readers would do well to consider Designing the Megaregion as a gateway to further investigation and an invitation to participate in the design of their megaregions. --Mami Hara, General Manager/CEO of Seattle Public Utilities Planning In Designing the Megaregion, Jonathan Barnett cogently explains why developing frequent, trip-time competitive passenger rail service linking cities along fast-growing corridors in megaregions is the only way to avoid highway and aviation congestion. --Stephen J. Gardner, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating and Commercial Officer, Amtrak Planning

""In the era of thinking about infrastructure, we can only hope that planners and policy-makers will pick up this concise and thoughtful book and use it as a guide for reimagining regional planning and design.""-- ""Journal of Urban Design"" ""The strength of the book lies in its emphasis on regional planning and the environmental context, examples of regional governance, and latest innovations in transportation and land use planning.... Barnett has provided invaluable insights into a regional form of planning that does not receive as much attention in the literature as it deserves.""-- ""Journal of Urban Affairs"" ""Jonathan Barnett ... has written the definitive book on the subject of regional planning for contemporary times.""-- ""Planetizen: Top Urban Planning Books of 2020"" ""Barnett proposes practical solutions and offers commonsense observations on what to avoid in the future.""-- ""Choice"" ""Jonathan Barnett's practical suggestions for coordinated action at the local, regional, state, and federal levels to build sustainable, equitable megaregions will be of interest to planners, policy makers, and others engaged in urban issues.""--David Rouse, FAICP, Urban and Regional Planning Consultant & former Managing Director of Research and Advisory Services for the American Planning Association ""Slim and thorough account.""-- ""Planning"" ""In Designing the Megaregion, Jonathan Barnett cogently explains why developing frequent, trip-time competitive passenger rail service linking cities along fast-growing corridors in megaregions is the only way to avoid highway and aviation congestion.""--Stephen J. Gardner, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating and Commercial Officer, Amtrak ""Jonathan Barnett clearly describes the roots and relevancy of many urban and regional forms and systems, providing an opportunity for shared understanding and collaboration by everyone interested in the fate of cities. Especially important, he lays out the relationship of fundamental policy choices to racial, environmental, and economic inequities, as well as pathways toward more equitable development. Readers would do well to consider Designing the Megaregion as a gateway to further investigation and an invitation to participate in the design of their megaregions.""--Mami Hara, General Manager/CEO of Seattle Public Utilities ""Megaregions are becoming the new engines of our society. Jonathan Barnett opens new horizons to the challenge of integrating economic development, social equity, and environmental sustainability. Designing the Megaregion is a meaningful and inspiring contribution for the future of designing cities.""--Alfonso Vegara, Founder and Group President of Fundacion Metropoli

Jonathan Barnett's practical suggestions for coordinated action at the local, regional, state, and federal levels to build sustainable, equitable megaregions will be of interest to planners, policy makers, and others engaged in urban issues. --David Rouse, FAICP, Urban and Regional Planning Consultant & former Managing Director of Research and Advisory Services for the American Planning Association Megaregions are becoming the new engines of our society. Jonathan Barnett opens new horizons to the challenge of integrating economic development, social equity, and environmental sustainability. Designing the Megaregion is a meaningful and inspiring contribution for the future of designing cities. --Alfonso Vegara, Founder and Group President of Fundacion Metropoli In Designing the Megaregion, Jonathan Barnett cogently explains why developing frequent, trip-time competitive passenger rail service linking cities along fast-growing corridors in megaregions is the only way to avoid highway and aviation congestion. --Stephen J. Gardner, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating and Commercial Officer, Amtrak Jonathan Barnett clearly describes the roots and relevancy of many urban and regional forms and systems, providing an opportunity for shared understanding and collaboration by everyone interested in the fate of cities. Especially important, he lays out the relationship of fundamental policy choices to racial, environmental, and economic inequities, as well as pathways toward more equitable development. Readers would do well to consider Designing the Megaregion as a gateway to further investigation and an invitation to participate in the design of their megaregions. --Mami Hara, General Manager/CEO of Seattle Public Utilities

Author Information

Jonathan Barnett is an emeritus Professor of Practice in City and Regional Planning, and former director of the Urban Design Program, at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an architect and planner as well as an educator, and is the author of numerous books and articles on the theory and practice of city design. Barnett is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He has been awarded the Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban Design and Regional Planning, the Athena Medal from the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the William H. Whyte Award from the Partners for Livable Communities for being a pioneer in urban design education and practice.

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