ABSTRACT
Although their influence may be slowly waning as both global and regional institutions gain in power, nation-states are still the dominant political force in the world, and a constituency whose leadership is essential for sustainability planning. Those of us in the US do not tend to think of our federal government as being engaged in planning activities, especially in the traditional sense of guiding local land development. The idea that the national government had a specific land use policy would be anathema to many Americans, and “planning” is not a word that is widely used on Capitol Hill. However, the federal government’s actions do fundamentally shape the physical and economic landscape around us, and have for decades. For example, national spending on highways, federal home loan guarantees, and tax deductions for home mortgage interest have promoted suburbanization,1 while federal spending on military research and development has promoted economic development in the sunbelt states at the expense of the “rustbelt” states of the upper Midwest and Northeast.2
