6 Regional Plan · 6.1 Regional planning and the regional plan
6.1.1 Concept and types of regions: formal, functional, planning and administrative
A region is an area that hangs together in some way. It may share uniform features (formal), be tied to one centre by flows (functional), be drawn for preparing and carrying out a plan (planning), or follow government boundaries (administrative).
- MPSC ATP
- Standard level
- 8 min read
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Core facts
- Region: an area larger than a city and smaller than a nation (usually) that has some internal unity, which marks it off from the areas around it.
- Formal (homogeneous / uniform) region: defined by sameness of one or more features, such as soil, climate, cropping pattern, physiography, language or income level.
- Functional (nodal / polarised) region: defined by interaction with a dominant centre. It is mapped from flows: commuting, trade, bus routes, newspaper circulation, telephone calls.
- Functional region = nodal region. Boudeville called it the polarised region.
- Planning (programming) region: an area chosen so that a plan can be prepared and carried out for it as one unit.
- Administrative region: follows government boundaries, such as a district, division or State.
- Boudeville's three types: homogeneous, polarised, and planning (programme) regions.
- Keeble's planning region: large enough for substantial changes in the distribution of population and employment to take place inside it, yet small enough for its planning problems to be viewed as a whole.
- Under the MRTP Act, 1966: a "Region" is any area the State Government establishes as a Region under s.3 (s.2(23)).
Explained
Formal and functional regions compared
| Point | Formal region | Functional region |
|---|---|---|
| Basis | Uniformity of features | Interaction and flows |
| Inside the region | Similar everywhere | Centre and hinterland are different but linked |
| Boundary | Where the feature changes | Where the pull of the centre fades |
| Example | Black-soil cotton tract of Vidarbha | Daily commuting zone of Pune |
- A formal region can be single-feature (rainfall zone) or multi-feature (an agro-climatic zone combining soil, rainfall and crops).
- A functional region has a core (city) and a periphery (hinterland). Its edge is drawn where flows to this centre become weaker than flows to a rival centre.
- Delineation tools (next note): flow analysis, breaking-point formula, gravity model, population potential, weighted indices.
Common types of planning region
| Type | What drives it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan region | A large city and its commuter belt | Mumbai Metropolitan Region; National Capital Region |
| River valley region | A river basin, for water, power and flood control | Damodar Valley Corporation (1948); Tennessee Valley Authority (USA, 1933) |
| Resource / industrial region | A shared resource base | Mining and industrial belts |
| Problem region | Backwardness, drought, tribal or hill areas | Drought-prone or tribal area programmes |
| Coastal region | Coastal ecology and economy | Konkan |
Why planners often use administrative regions
- Data (Census, district statistics) is collected by administrative units.
- Implementing agencies and budgets are organised by district, taluka and municipality.
- Elected bodies are accountable inside these boundaries.
- The cost: an administrative boundary may cut through a functional region. A city's commuter belt may cross two districts.
Why regional plans are needed
- To reduce disparities between parts of a region.
- To guide growth in the hinterland of large cities, beyond municipal limits.
- To plan regional infrastructure: highways, railways, water, power.
- To protect natural resources: forests, rivers, agricultural land.
- To link the State's economic plan (sectors and money) with space (where things go).
Common traps
- ✗ "A functional region is defined by uniformity of soil or climate." ✓ That is a formal region. A functional region is defined by flows to a centre.
- ✗ "Nodal region and homogeneous region mean the same." ✓ Nodal = functional (polarised); homogeneous = formal.
- ✗ "The daily commuting zone of a city is a formal region." ✓ It is a functional region.
- ✗ "Keeble said a planning region should be small enough to plan block by block." ✓ Small enough for its problems to be viewed as a whole, large enough for substantial shifts of population and employment.
- ✗ "A Region under the MRTP Act exists wherever a district is formed." ✓ It exists only when the State Government notifies it under s.3.
Quick revision
- Formal = homogeneous = uniform features.
- Functional = nodal = polarised = flows to a centre.
- Planning region = area for preparing and implementing a plan.
- Administrative region = district, division, State; easy data, may cut functional regions.
- Boudeville: homogeneous, polarised, planning.
- Keeble: big enough for real change, small enough to view as a whole.
- River valley: DVC 1948; TVA 1933.
- MRTP: Region = area notified under s.3 (s.2(23)).
Go deeper: Deeper, Mains writing (beyond what MPSC ATP usually asks)
Deeper Advanced
- Region as a tool, not a fact. A region is defined for a purpose. The same area may be part of a formal agro-climatic region for agriculture and of a city's functional region for transport planning. Planners pick the definition that suits the problem.
- Boudeville's sequence. Homogeneous regions describe what an area is like. Polarised regions describe how it works. Planning regions describe where a decision-maker can act. A good planning region tries to combine all three: fairly uniform problems, a clear set of centres, and one administrative authority.
- Qualities of a good planning region (drawn from standard texts):
- large enough to hold a viable economy and a range of resources
- small enough to be managed and understood as a whole (Keeble)
- internally linked by transport and economic flows
- a stable boundary that matches, as far as possible, administrative units
- one recognised authority to prepare and enforce the plan
- Metropolitan regions in law. Article 243ZE (74th Amendment) provides for Metropolitan Planning Committees for areas of 10 lakh or more. In Maharashtra, s.4(1A) of the MRTP Act excludes metropolitan areas under the Maharashtra Metropolitan Planning Committees Act, 1999 from the Regional Planning Board provisions of s.4(1).
- Regions under the MRTP Act are notified. In Maharashtra a Region exists in law only when the State Government notifies it under s.3. The notified limits are often a district or group of districts, so the statutory region is usually an administrative region in practice.
Mains writing Mains writing
- Frame: the choice of region decides what problems a plan can see. A municipal plan cannot manage a city-region; a district plan may split a commuter belt.
- Analysis points:
- Functional regions fit transport and housing problems; formal regions fit agriculture and environment.
- Administrative regions are practical because data and agencies follow them.
- Metropolitan regions in India (NCR, MMR) show the gap between functional reality and fragmented local bodies.
- Way forward: define statutory regions on functional evidence where possible; give MPCs and Regional Boards real powers; use GIS and mobility data to redraw regions over time.
- Example: Pune's commuter belt spreads well beyond the municipal corporation, which is why a metropolitan region development authority was set up for the wider area.
Practise this topic. Questions on Regional Plan, with answers explained.
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