ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. Community development, education, and health expenditures might strategically support interventions that provide more opportunities within communities to build social networks. And unlike interventions in the market to increase built density and create economic development, this set of policies would be effective equally in weak and strong market regions. Much anti-poverty policy is not within the purview of regional sustainability planning, in any country. Whether focused on ecological systems, smart growth, or human development, regional authorities rarely have access to all the types of government support necessary for an investment in place. In most countries, in fact, both social and spatial development programs are even more centralized than in the United States. To date, with the possible exception of some European countries and US regions, regional planning processes have failed to incorporate significant public participation.
