Elisa Barbour’s Metropolitan Growth Planning in California, 1900-2000 traces the history of regional planning and growth management in California. Focusing on transportation, land use, and environmental planning, Barbour divides the state’s reform efforts into three distinct waves: the consolidation of planning activities under central city governments; the fragmentation of those activities during post-World War II suburbanization; and recent attempts to reintegrate them without changing the fundamental structures of political authority. Barbour also assesses the state’s current prospects for growth management at the regional level. She concludes that effective regional planning will require active support from Sacramento, largely because the state defines the regulatory environment and affects regional outcomes with its own programs and investments.
Topics
Economic Growth Economy