The Sonoran Institute has released a new report on Tucson's role in the Arizona Sun Corridor Megaregion. Tucson's New Prosperity:Capitalizing on the Sun Corridor makes the case that the economic health of Tucson is closely tied to the much larger Sun Corridor economy that is focused in Phoenix, 100 miles to the north. But the report makes clear that Tucson's best strategy is not to compete with Phoenix, but to treat Phoenix as an asset that can be utilized to advance its own economy. In terms of growth and sprawl, Phoenix has won the race. Tucson should compete by establishing its own niche in the economic environment of the Sun Corridor. As a city that is embraced on all sides by national, state, and county parks forests, conservation areas, and monuments, and undeveloped state trust lands, Tucson's great advantages are its spectacular natural environment, opportunities for outdoor recreation and a relaxed desert lifestyle.

Large Landscape Conservation: A Strategic Framework for Policy and Action
"There is general agreement that the promise of large landscape conservation is its focus on land and water problems at an appropriate geographic scale, regardless of political and jurisdictional boundaries. ... Such efforts are multijurisdictional, multipurpose, and multistakeholder, and they operate at various geographic scales using a variety of governance arrangements."

A new policy focus report issued by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy -- an America 2050 partner -- focuses on strategies for regional collaboration to protect large landscapes in the United States.  Like megaregions, large landscapes span political boundaries and require ad-hoc and formal partnerships for their conservation. Regional Plan Association and America 2050 are now engaged in large landscapes work in the Northeast United States, in partnership with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Lincoln Institute.  Download the Report.

A University of Pennsylvania graduate planning studio released their final report this week, proposing investment in two new dedicated high-speed tracks connecting Boston to Washington. Traveling a new right-of-way in the north end of the Corridor, and involving station relocations and strategic improvements in the south end, the plan would cut travel times in half, achieving 90-minute service from New York to Washington, D.C. and 105 minute service from New York to Boston. The Executive Summary is now available for download. You can download the full report in chapters on the Penn students' website, or the full report as one file here (100MB).

The report was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 9.

Graduate planning students at Portland State University have released the fourth version of their ongoing study of the Cascadia megaregion with the guidance of instructor Ethan Seltzer of the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning.

This latest iteration, Ecolopolis 4.0, examines the implications for Cascadia of the new federal livability partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Transportation. This new interest in the role that Federal agencies can and should play in furthering goals for livability and smart growth presents Cascadia and other megaregions an opportunity to articulate their own livability agendas in anticipation of new initiatives emanating from Washington, DC. 

 
In an effort to promote a balanced growth strategy for the United States, Regional Plan Association and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy brought together two dozen scholars and economic development practitioners in March 2009 for an America 2050 research seminar to explore new economic development strategies for the nation's underperforming regions. The seminar gathered people with a range of expertise and diversity of backgrounds, including those from declining, post-industrial regions, rural and frontier communities, and experts in state and federal economic development policy to address strategies for declining places within the nation's emerging megaregions and in the spaces in between. Three research papers were developed for the seminar by Yoav Hagler, Robert Yaro, and Nicolas Ronderos of Regional Plan Association. They are collected in this new report along with a summary of the conversations that took place at the seminar.

Download "New Strategies for Regional Economic Development."

Climate change, underfunded infrastructure, outdated management approaches, and the pressures of urbanization are creating a looming crisis for America's water. Because of these multiple changes, a fundamental shift is needed from traditional, heavily engineered and segregated approaches to integrated, systems approaches that work with nature and provide multiple benefits. A new America 2050 working paper outlines preliminarily steps toward a new national water agenda including new financing strategies and recommendations for policy reform.
Download "A Systems Approach to Water Resources."
Image: flickr/La Citta Vitta

A new article appearing in the September issue of The Urbanist by Petra Todorovich addresses the role of megaregions in a national infrastructure plan and stresses the importance of regional cooperation around issues such as high-speed rail, large scale water infrastructure, and reviving regional economies. The article argues that a national infrastructure strategy that emanates solely from Washington would be deeply unpopular.  However, one that is built on collaboration between states and regions and identifies the needed investments for a more productive economy, healthy environment and inclusive society, is critical to address the country's current and future infrastructure needs. The article cites precedents, both historic and current, of megaregion-scale cooperation to address shared challenges and discusses how this national infrastructure strategy could take shape at the federal level. Click here to read the full article.