Since 2007, America 2050 has held megaregion forums in seven of America's eleven megaregions nation-wide. There forums were held as part of a "Rebuilding and Renewing America" campaign, which aimed to build support for the infrastructure investments we need to guide America toward a sustainable and prosperous future. The forums aimed to achieve three goals:

• Build support around the country for an ambitious national infrastructure plan in the areas of  transportation, energy, and water.
• Identify and prioritize the key infrastructure priorities in the megaregions, which can act as building blocks to a national plan.
• Create megaregion coalitions to support these megaregion priorities and begin coordinating with each other.

Each megaregion prioritized slightly different issues and has followed up on the forum in varying degrees. To read about the megaregion forums and next steps, download the summary below. Also available is a PowerPoint presentation given by Petra Todorovich at the America 2050 national meeting, which also outlines common principles on federal policy that were emphasized in each of the megaregions.

Download the Summary of Megaregion Forums.

Download a PowerPoint about the Forums.

Download the Paper (1 MB)

By Chris Benner, University of California, Davis and Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California.

Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a growing regional equity movement has recognized the consequences of urban sprawl and regional causes of poverty and successfully built political power at the scale of metropolitan region. Now, with increasing attention to social and economic factors at the megaregion scale, this paper asks whether equity proponents must shift their attention outward and upward.

View photos from the most recent America 2050 Forum in Sacramento, California on December 2, 2008, featuring speakers Darrell Steinberg, Rep. Matsui, Rep. Blumenauer and Paul Rosenstiel.

California Senate President pro Tempore-Elect Darrell Steinberg will headline America 2050's regional infrastructure forum in Sacramento on December 2, 2008. Steinberg authored the groundbreaking new California law, SB-375, which provides incentives to regions who produce integrated land use and transportation plans to cut carbon emissions.

The forum, titled, "Investing in America's Competitiveness: An Infrastructure Strategy for the Nation and the Megaregion," will bring together 100 leaders from the business, civic, government, and academic communities in the Northern California megaregion to discuss a national and megaregional agenda for infrastructure investment that could shape the economic recovery plans of the Obama Administration and the new U.S. Congress in 2009.

The forum is hosted by a collaboration of Northern California civic and government organizations including the Bay Area Council, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), Sacramento Council of Governments, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the San Joaquin Council of Governments, in conjunction with New York's Regional Plan Association.  It will contribute to an ongoing effort to create a national infrastructure plan that could shape an economic stimulus bill and economic recovery plan next year.  Leaders from the Northern California business, civic, government, and academic communities are encouraged to attend and help define this emerging federal-megaregion agenda. 

Download the Agenda.

For more information, please contact Lauren Straub at the Bay Area Council at (415) 946-8727 or lstraub@bayareacouncil.org.

"Gas is $4 a gallon and we still have congestion" said Jim Spering, Solano County Supervisor in California recognizing that clogged roadways and reduced productivity must be addressed at a much larger scale.  More than one hundred leading transportation experts from the Bay and Sacramento corridor gathered on Thursday, April 10th, to explore the possibility of coordinating transportation plans at the megaregion scale in an attempt to attract funding for projects.

In a parallel effort, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and Imperial Valley EDC received a $225,000 grant to spearhead a study that aims to develop a megaregion framework for global competition.  The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration awarded the grant, which will cover the two southern California counties and the Northern Baja California, Mexico region.

Click below for the articles:

'Mega-region touted for transit - TheReporter.Com

"EDCs Receive $225,000 Grant for Mega-Region Initiative - International Business Times

March 19-21: Healdsburg, CA: Regional Plan Association and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy gathered planners and scholars from the U.S. and China for a two-day retreat to foster academic dialogue on megaregion planning.  RPA and Lincoln commissioned four papers on two topics: (1) comparative studies of Asian megaregions and (2) social equity implications of megaregion planning.  The forum featured presentations from the authors, followed by responses and discussions.  Read more about the papers and download the PowerPoint presentations in the extended entry.
Image: Northern and Southern California Megaregions, Benner and Pastor (2008)

March 19: San Francisco - The Bay Area Council, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) and Regional Plan Association (RPA) convened a public panel discussion at SPUR on the emergence of the Northern California megaregion. Panelists reacted to a recent report by SPUR describing the Northern California megaregion and discussed collaborative solutions to challenges at this emerging scale. Panelists agreed: the report had heightened awareness to the economic, ecological and cultural connections across Northern California region.  Moderated by Bob Yaro, co-chairman of America 2050 and president of RPA, panelists included Angela-Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink, Hon. Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento, Carol Whiteside, Founder of Great Valley Center, Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of Bay Area Council, and Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director of SPUR. Read the extended entry for more information on the event and to download the Northern California Megaregion Report by SPUR. 

On March 19, SPUR, the Bay Area Council and Regional Plan Association of New York will host a public panel discussion at SPUR in San Francisco on the Northern California megaregion. Building on the work of these three organizations, there has been increasing awareness about the economic, cultural, and ecological connections across Northern California. What does this awareness mean practically? What are the pressing challenges at the megaregion scale and what are the opportunities to form political alliances and cooperate on key issues such as land use, air quality, and housing policies? Panelists will discuss policy implications and responses to this emerging geography, with time for audience questions and discussion.

Panelists include: Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director of SPUR; Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council; Carol Whiteside, Founder of the Great Valley Center; Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink; and the Honorable Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento. The panel will be moderated by Robert Yaro, President of Regional Plan Association.

The event will take place March 19, 2008 from 8:30 AM - 10:30 a.m. At SPUR, 312 Sutter St. (at Grant), 2nd Floor, San Francisco.

SPUR is located close to the Powell St. BART station and several Muni lines.
The forum is open to the public, free for members and $5 for non-members.
RSVP to info@SPUR.org

Download the Brochure.