Ideas Matter: Reflections on the New RegionalismAbstractThis article reviews recent arguments for regional cooperation, especially those that assert an interdependence between cities and suburbs. Based on an analysis of economic trends and market failures, these arguments deduce from economic facts normative policy prescriptions for regional cooperation. Logically, however, normative prescriptions cannot be deduced from empirical facts. After examining the logical flaws in these arguments, the article sketches out a normative vision that addresses ways for regional cooperation to enhance democratic participation, community control, and civil society. The article concludes that efforts to advance regional solutions to urban problems must include regional visions as well as coherent analyses of economic trends. In short, ideas matter.Ideas Matter: Reflections on the New Regionalism (*.pdf, 85 KB)
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