7. 10. 2 0 08 Identifying Megaregions in the US: Implications for Infrastructure Investment Dr. Myungje Woo Dr. Catherine L. Ross Jason Barringer Harry West Jessica Lynn Harbour Doyle Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development Georgia Institute of Technology Presented at the ACSP-AESOP 4th Joint Congress Chicago, Illinois 10th July 2008
Outline of Presentation 1. Research background: why is megaregion important? 2. Megaregions & Infrastructure 3. Current efforts for defining megaregions 4. Conceptual framework for delineating megaregions 5. Conclusions & Next step
1. R e s e a r c h B a c k g r o u n d I. Why is megaregion important? Environmental Issues Excessive land consumption beyond metro areas Water, air, natural resources, and climate change Economic Competitiveness Concentrations of population and economic activities Global economy and free trade
1. R e s e a r c h B a c k g r o u n d Density of trade volumes with Canada and Mexico (2035) Density of trade volumes with overseas countries (2035) Source: FHWA Freight Analysis Framework (2006)
II. Megaregions & Infrastructure Miles of roads of federal-aid urbanized areas Total Miles/1,000 persons Interstate HWY Local Meagregions 0.0586 2.6949 Non-megaregions 0.1075 3.8068 Source: Miles and daily vehicle-miles of travel, FHWA (2006)
2.Megaregions & Infrastructure Share of the proposed mileage of SHR (%) Megaregions Non-megaregions Total Federally designated routes 40.4 20.1 60.5 Others 25.3 14.2 39.5 Total 65.7 34.33 100.00 Source: Schwieterman & Scheidt (2007), Survey of Current High-Speed Rail Planning Efforts in the United States, Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1995. Railways 2007. 27-34.
III. Current Efforts for Defining i Megaregions Definitions of megaregions extended networks of metropolitan centers linked by interstate highway and rail corridors the Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Design (2004) a set of interconnected metropolitan areas the Greate Lakes Megaregion plan (2006) large, connected networks of metropolitan regions that are driving an increasing share of global production and trade the Northeast Megaregion plan (2006)
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation of megaregions in a national scale of the U.S Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech (2005) Regional Plan Association (2006)
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation criteria of megaregions in a national scale Metropolitan Regional Plan Institute Association Analysis Unit County County Requirements Analysis Criteria More than 2 metro areas & 10 M population by 2040 Population size Contiguity Cultural and historical geography Physical environment Links of large centers Growth projections Goods and service flows N/A Environmental systems and topography Infrastructure system Economic linkage Settlement patterns and land use Shared culture and history
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation of megaregions in a regional scale of the U.S Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion (Georgia Tech, 2005) Northeast Megaregion (RPA, 2007)
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation of megaregions in a regional scale of the U.S Great Lakes Megaregion (Univ. of Michigan, 2006) Northern California Megaregion (SPUR, 2007) Texas Triangle (Univ. of Texas, Austin, 2007)
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation criteria of megaregions in a regional scale Piedmont Northern Texas Northeast Great Lakes Atlantic California Triangle Census-defined criteria of statistical areas Population Contiguity Commuting Freight movement Transportation & economy Transportation network Industrial history Geography Environments Environmentally sensitive areas Open space & recreation resources Political environments Watershed Regional groups
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation criteria from abroad Randstad (Netherlands) Zhujiang Delta (China) North-east Asian Megaregions (China-Korea- Japan) Analysis Unit Analysis Criteria City - City Core: Physical International Employment Geography: interactions: density Flood zones Air passenger traffic Population size Coastal lines Flow of information River basins International labor Hinterlands: migration Commuting flows
3.Current Efforts for Defining Megaregions Delineation methods of existing practices Methods Thresholds of population and commuting ties similar to the methods of Census-defined statistical areas GIS mapping & descriptive analysis Spatial Structure Rare distinction between Core areas and Hinterlands
IV. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Structure of megaregions Urban cores o highly agglomerated, o physically and functionally interconnected into, o interacting i with each other via certain types of network Areas of influences o support the functions of the core areas, o characterized by shared characteristics, such as history, culture, and environmental corridors
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Background theories of regions and spatial planning Functional & Uniform regions (Cadwallader, 1996) o Functional (nodal) region: an area with a high degree of social and economic interaction o Uniform region: an area that has homogeneity of certain characteristics Relational & Essentialist (traditional) approaches (Healey, 2004) o Relational approach: emphasis on the relationships of places o Essentialist approach: emphasis on physical proximity, specific boundaries, and hierarchy
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Structure of megaregions with theories Essentialist approach Relational approach Urban Cores Functional region Areas of Influences Uniform region
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Procedures of Delineating Megaregions 1 st Stage Identifying Core Areas 2 nd Stage Identifying Areas of Influences 3 rd Stage Considering regional characteristics Periodic reviews Megaregions
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Criteria for identifying Core Areas Major categories Agglomeration Economic interaction Social interaction Infrastructure networks Criteria Population Employment Movement of commodities Movement of information and financial capital Industrial structure Migration Commuting Travel frequencies Transportation networks High-broadband networks Geographical relations Contiguity and proximity (distance) Socio economic relations Historical and cultural relationships
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Criteria for identifying Areas of Influences Major categories Criteria Natural environment Physical environment Socio economic characteristics Environmentally sensitive areas (watershed, forest, and farmland) Geographical obstacles (mountain, river, flood zones, ocean, etc.) Green infrastructure (openspace & recreation resources) Land price Historical characteristics Cultural chracteristics Future growth Geographical relations Contiguity and proximity (distance) Political environment Regional groups Voting patterns
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Methodologies Methodologies of existing megaregional practices Thresholds of population and commuting ties GIS mapping & descriptive analysis Proposing Methodologies Mathematical & statistical methods o Spatial autocorrelation statistics, Graph theory, Markov chains Econometrics & multivariate analysis o Density functions, Principal component analysis, Cluster analysis
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Methodologies Graph theory Using commuting, commodities, telephone, migration flows Identifying strongest networks Nystuen & Dacey (1961), Campbell (1972), Puebla (1987) Markov chain Using commuting, commodities, telephone, migration flows Delineating functional regions Dietvorst & Wever (1977), Hirst (1975) Multivariate analysis Delineating the boundaries of diverse regions Illeris & Pederson (1968), Kim & Woo (2000), Vicino i et al. (2007) Econometrics Analyzing spatial structure McMillen Mill & McDonald (1997), Galindo & Carcia (2003), Fotheringham h et al. (1998), Lee (2007)
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Methods Identifying Core Areas 1. Identifying hub areas Moran s I 2. Identifying candidate core areas 3. Measuring the interactions between hubs and candidate core areas and among candidate core areas Graph theory and Markov chains 4. Determining hub areas and relevant core areas
4. Conceptual Framework for delineating Megaregions Methods Identifying Areas of Influences 1. Identifying candidate areas of influences Density functions (Geographically Weighted Regression) 2. Incorporating shared socio economic characteristics and natural amenities multivariate analysis and mapping methods 3. Determining the boundaries of areas of influences
V. Conclusions & Next step Proposing framework of identifying megaregions First stage: Core areas o using spatial tilautocorrelation lti statistics, ttiti graph htheory, Markov chains with relational criteria Second stage: Areas of influences o using density functions and multivariate i t analysis with essentialist t criteria Third stage: Reexamination of these two areas o using regional characteristics ti Determining gpriorities between delineation criteria
Acknowledgement The support for this research is being provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
Thank You! For copies of the paper or this presentation, please contact myungje.woo@coa.gatech.edu.