The Need for Regional Planning Regional planning may be defined as comprehensive planning for a geographic area which is larger than a municipality or county, but smaller than a state. The region is also connected and united by cultural identity, economic interests, geographic features, as well as common developmental and environmental concerns.
Regions are different in their characteristics, yet they often have similar planning needs.
From the 1950's to today, the need for regional planning has arisen from changing social and economic phenomena which have affected local communities and regions throughout the United States. The Tri-County Region is experiencing effects from the above mentioned changes as well. In particular, population growth, housing development, and other social and economic trends of the Nation and Commonwealth are subjecting the Tri-County Region and its communities to internal migration and travel patterns never experienced before. Similarly, the resulting growth patterns and development sprawl are blending together in a manner which is creating a single, large, mixed rural and urban complex stretching from Carlisle to Hershey and Palmyra. Urban sprawl and diffusion, in turn, is creating complex developmental problems, inefficient accessibility to public transit and other community services, careless depletion of valuable agricultural resources, as well as other environmental problems.