Planning for regions in Australia

Regional planning, regional policy and regional governance are contentious topics. There is debate about what properly constitutes a 'region', as there is about the form, role and scope of planning in and for regions. At the same time, the responsibility for regions and regional planning is currently spread across many levels of government as well as non-elected bodies. It is not surprising, then, that many in the planning community regard the current state of regional planning in Australia as unsatisfactory. Planners who propose a commitment to genuine spatial planning on the regional scale - that is, planning that attempts to integrate social, economic and environmental objectives for regions that are larger than local government areas and smaller than states - face a very significant challenge. To meet it, they must go beyond traditional land-use planning and regulation