ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses planning at the metropolitan-area level. It explores three institutional approaches to planning at the metropolitan level: the authority, the regional planning agency, and the Council of Governments. The chapter presents three case histories to illustrate the previous general discussion: the case of Minneapolis-St. Paul, for regional planning agencies; the case of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for authorities; and the Atlanta Regional Commission, for Councils of Governments. Although they are separate approaches, they have many points in common. The key problem in planning for a metropolitan area is the political one. Metropolitan planning organizations succeed only to the extent that the local and state political establishments- elected officials and their constituents-see the regional organization as useful in meeting their needs. This is necessarily so, since metropolitan-area planning takes place within the US federal system, in which large amounts of authority and responsibility, such as the power to control land use, reside with local governments.
