5. Emerging Advances in Regional Spatial Planning

There is change occurring everywhere. Pace of urbanisation is transforming the world community from a rural to an urban society. This chapter discusses emerging advances that will impact regional spatial planning in future. It highlights the transformations occurring in global urban geography which indicates that now (2018) more than a-half (55%) to the total population of the world lives in urban areas. New tools, for spatial planning, have emerged and include GIS, spatial data infrastructure blockchain, and megacity region spatial model. There are advances in spatial planning approaches like Transit Oriented Development, Zero Waste City, Eco-industrial Parks, Integrated Townships, Theme Cities, and Rurban Clusters. New regional spatial configurations such as mega-regions, urban corridors, and polycentric regions are evolving. These innovations will impact the methods of spatial planning and informed decision making for preparation and implementation of plans and also governance. It advocates integrated, collaborative, and proactive regional spatial planning approach that promotes sustainable, inclusive and resilient development capable of adapting to technological innovations and climate change. It recommends that proactive planning of metropolitan and megacity regions need to be promoted as these are the places where most of the major activities will be happening in the urbanising future.