ABSTRACT
Beginning with the first wave, states had supported the development of special purpose districts and authorities to help meet the infrastructure and service needs of metropolitan regions. Part of the contribution of the fourth wave, as well as the latter half of the third, was increased sophistication in the procedural aspects of planning, particularly with respect to citizen and more specifically interest group involvement. Citizen involvement, whether invited or self-empowered, formed an increasingly significant undercurrent of activity during the third and fourth waves and subsequently became the foundation for the fifth. The cases briefly described here focus on land use, but the governance concerns addressed under the fifth wave are often broader. A good place to begin is the San Francisco Bay Area where coalition politics often brings together some fairly unexpected coalitions. Historically, the San Francisco Bay Area has been the financial and business hub of the West Coast.
