ABSTRACT
The terms region and regionalism have been widely used in recent years with reference to a great variety of problems. All demand, in one form or another, the substitution of new geographical units for existing administrative units, which, as a legacy of the past, are quite unsuited to the requirements of modern society. Regional planning deals primarily with the physical planning of town and countryside, and the term is generally used in reference to an extension of town planning; indeed, in France it is often called ‘urban regionalism’. It may include the general planning of resources, as in the organization and work of the Tennessee Valley Authority (T.V. A.) in the United States, an aspect which is becoming increasingly prominent in the planning programmes of other countries. Regionalism is also identified with the movement for the re-organization of local government and the devolution of administrative and legislative powers. The outstanding instance of all such aims being put into practice is in the total reconstruction of the economy and social structure of the U.S.S.R.
