ABSTRACT
If one does not already exist, it is useful to begin the study of a region by creating a profile of socioeconomic and physical conditions. In the UFRD approach, a “macro-analysis” of a region is based primarily on data that have already been collected. The information is organized into categories that enable planners and policy-makers to analyze the region’s level of development compared to other regions in the country and the levels of development of various areas within the region. This “regional profile” serves three important purposes. First, it encourages planners to make a thorough inventory of existing data in censuses, special studies, project analyses, feasibility studies and other reports about the region. The information is used not only to create a profile of conditions within the region but also to formulate programs and projects in later stages of spatial analysis and regional planning. The exercise gives planners an overview of the region and an appreciation of the kinds of information that have already been gathered. Time and money can be saved by not duplicating studies that have been done or that yield information that can be used for other purposes. Second, the data gathered through this exercise can be compiled into a regional statistical compendium that can provide planners, government officials, private investors and community groups with information about the region that previously had been scattered in inaccessible or little known reports. Third, the profile provides a baseline analysis of conditions within the region that can be used later in assessing changes that result from regional development programs and projects.
