State Growth Management: Intergovernmental Frameworks and Policy Objectives

This paper contrasts the intergovernmental structures and development goals of state growth programs initiated since 1970 in thirteen states. Many of these state and nonlocal growth management strategies seek to restrict growth having regionally detrimental effects; a growing number seek also to facilitate regionally beneficial growth often opposed by local governments. The evolution of state growth policy has shown a shift from state preemptive regulatory interventions to conjoint and cooperative state-local planning frameworks and the incorporation of growth-accommodating economic policies into programs previously environmentally oriented. Such evolution indicates the maturation of state growth management and the increasing convergence of the diverse policy paths taken by state government.

Scott A. Bollens

Journal of the American Planning Association

November 26, 2007

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