Mega-Regions

Richard Florida says the future of the economy is in "mega-regions" -- linked up networks of cities. Paul Krugman is a skeptic, but Florida responds to some of his criticisms here. When titans clash, I think of a more trivial point to raise (non-trivial point -- environmental sustainability should be considered here), namely that I don't understand why Florida calls these things mega-regions.

The so-called "mega-region" in which I live -- Florida calls it BosNyWash, I think, while Krugman uses the more felicitous term Acelaland -- is geographically smaller than a traditional "region" like New England or the Pacific Northwest. The true mega-regions of the United States are longstanding geographic and cultural concepts like "the South" that are composed of distinct sub-regions and are much, much larger than Florida's multi-focal urban clusters.

Comments

BAMA Sprawl, here we come!

Posted by Shawn | April 14, 2008 11:55 AM

We just called it the Northeast Corridor.

Posted by Said Shirazi | April 14, 2008 11:56 AM

Florida a titan - ha!

Posted by minderbender | April 14, 2008 11:58 AM

Didn't they used to call these "Megalopolises" or somesuch? But yeah, northeast corridor works, too. And I think it's really such that you either have one stretching from Boston to Baltimore (with maybe the ME/NH and VA cities as extensions) or you've got two, centering on NYC and DC, with Philly sort of the border.

As someone who doesn't drive and doesn't really want to drive, I'm all for a big web of high speed rail being implemented up and down the northeast corridor. I'd go to NYC or DC somewhat regularly if it was as easy as a train ride and fairly affordable.

Posted by JoeF | April 14, 2008 12:03 PM

Look, Krugman, when he exercises self discipline, is capable of producing work what would make him worthy of the "titan" label; it is not ridiculous to mention him and the phrase "Nobel in economics". Florida, on the other hand, seems to be be nuthin' but a high-falutin' "trend spotter" or "futurist", a type that occasionally shows up, and becomes semi-notable for being semi-notable. Wasn't there soembody who went by the unlikely moniker "Faith Popcorn" who ran that sideshow in the '90s?

Posted by Will Allen | April 14, 2008 12:11 PM

A link to whatever Florida was originally proposing would have been nice.

But there is a certain basic logic to at least having multi-city regions coordinate on things like transportation and communication policy to the extent people, goods, and information are travelling (or would travel) significantly more frequently between locations within the region than from within the region to locations outside the region. Obviously the conditional is necessary because people might travel a lot more frequently within certain regions if, say, the region invested in a high-speed rail service, but if the only notable options remain cars and planes, then the region may not be able to make use of these theoretical efficiencies (a similar story could be told about communication options).

I also don't think we really need to encourage this, so much as let it happen. If I understand correctly the sorts of regions under consideration, the people with the money in those regions want to do such things. But it is other people who are basically taking their money away and not letting them spend it the way they would like, or otherwise regulating away such options.

Posted by DTM | April 14, 2008 12:14 PM

As someone who moved from BosNyWash to Chicago I can say I was unconstrained by anything other then not knowing where to get my car fixed or find a good sandwich.

Posted by joejoejoe | April 14, 2008 12:23 PM

Yeah, its normally called a mega-cities or a megalopolis. Compared to, say, the regions in the Nine Nations of North America thesis, they do have a tendency to overlap the boundaries of the main cultural regions ... but they are by no means "mega" on the scale of the main regions of the country.

If there is a new regionalism emerging around mega-cities, then "mega-region" as a shorthand for "a region focused on a core mega-city" is just a poor choice all around.

Posted by BruceMcF | April 14, 2008 12:38 PM

From what I am gathering, there doesn't need to be a mega-city in the mega-region either, which is starting to imply to me the "mega" doesn't really belong in there at all.

Posted by DTM | April 14, 2008 12:43 PM

By the way, it is a pet peeve of mine that many people seem to think the Northeast Corridor is somehow the ideal situation for high-speed intercity train service. It actually isn't: it is good that there are a lot of big cities, but bad that the places in between the cities are also relatively dense and developed (that increases track costs, reduces speeds, encourages excessive stops, and so on).

The ideal situation for high-speed intercity trains is actually where you have cities the right distance away from each other (approximately 100-600 miles), and relatively little development in between (ideally nice flat farmland). So, for example, Chicago and the many decent-sized cities within a 600 mile radius presents nearly the ideal situation for a high-speed intercity rail network--and relieving congestion in O'Hare would be fantastic for the whole nationwide air travel system.

And I am raising this because I think the "mega-" stuff tends to make people think of more the Northeast Corridor model than, say, the Chicago-Midwest. So I propose we just talk about "multi-city regions", and drop the "mega-" stuff.

Posted by DTM | April 14, 2008 12:56 PM

What JoeF and BruceMcF said: renaming megalopolises "mega-regions" (without even changing the BosNyWash name!) smacks of dressing up old concepts and selling them as your own.

Posted by Bob | April 14, 2008 1:07 PM

I agree with the guffaw provoked by thinking of Florida as a titan. To understand his work you just have to understand the psychology of a salesman. If I wave my hands enough and come up with enough shining New Words, you won't pay attention to the actual ideas in themselves.

Posted by Joe C | April 14, 2008 1:13 PM

Look, Krugman, when he exercises self discipline, is capable of producing work what would make him worthy of the "titan" label; it is not ridiculous to mention him and the phrase "Nobel in economics". Florida, on the other hand, seems to be be nuthin' but a high-falutin' "trend spotter" or "futurist", a type that occasionally shows up, and becomes semi-notable for being semi-notable.

Absolutely correct, great comment.

There are some conservative economist "titans" out there who might go up against Krugman on some issues, and then it would be interesting. But you won't find those guys pushing this stuff.

Posted by mq | April 14, 2008 1:40 PM

As a resident of Philadelphia, which is the second biggest area in BosNyWash, and much bigger than either Bos or Wash, the next time this idea comes around, I would like to see a name for the Megapolis that recognizes the central features, rather than the trailing endpoints (NoVa is part of BosNyWash, so its not a boundary.)

I suggest either "NyPhilLand," or the more mellifluous, "Places I can drive to in about 4 hours or less."

Posted by Ragtime | April 14, 2008 2:09 PM

I think Florida should change his name. Whenever I hear a phrase like "Florida calls it BosNyWash" I think it's about the state of Florida.

Or we could just ignore Richard Florida altogether.

Posted by Steve Sailer | April 14, 2008 3:41 PM

Or we could call such a thing a "megalopolis", like we have for half a century.

Posted by Senescent | April 14, 2008 7:15 PM

What I couldn't understand about Florida's essay is wher it leads you. OK, so you define "mega-regions" as important. So what?

Posted by David Sucher | April 14, 2008 10:30 PM

What I couldn't understand about Florida's essay is wher it leads you. OK, so you define "mega-regions" as important. So what?

Posted by David Sucher | April 14, 2008 10:32 PM

What I couldn't understand about Florida's essay is wher it leads you. OK, so you define "mega-regions" as important. So what?

Posted by David Sucher | April 14, 2008 10:32 PM

What I couldn't understand about Florida's essay is wher it leads you. OK, so you define "mega-regions" as important. So what?

Posted by David Sucher | April 14, 2008 10:32 PM