ABSTRACT
A metropolitan area usually has at least several dozen local governments. In addition, metropolitan areas are fragmented socially, economically, and administratively. Some schools of thought regard governmental fragmentation as relatively harmful, but some observers contend that fragmentation is beneficial. Reformers have proposed a number of strategies for dealing with fragmentation, but the more drastic remedies are usually very difficult to adopt. Some of the more modest reforms have been approved in a considerable number of metropolitan areas.
