Regional Development

Theories, strategies, and spatial patterns of regional planning and development.

Author

Geography Team

Official Syllabus

NEP-2020 Syllabus

Core I Paper XI — Regional Planning and Development

**(4 Credit, Theory: 45hrs, Practical: 30hrs)*

**Unit I:* - Concept of Region, Types of regions: Formal, Functional and Planning Region - Need for Regional Planning, Characteristics of an Ideal Planning Region - Delineation of Formal and Functional regions - Planning Regions; Approaches and Methods

**Unit II:* - Theories and Models for Regional Planning - Growth Pole Model of Perroux; Myrdal, Hirschman, Rostow - Export Base Model, Core-Periphery Model - Modified Growth Foci approach of R.P. Mishra

**Unit III:* - Regional Disparity and Imbalances in India - Strategies for balanced regional development in India through Policies and Programmes in FYPs - Concept and characteristics of city master plan, NCR Planning - Decentralised planning in India: District Plan and Multi Level Planning - Formulation and function of Niti Ayog; Development planning skills - Welfare program of different sectors; Special Component plan (Tribal Sub Plan and Weaker Section) - Participatory planning

UGC NET Syllabus

Unit VIII — Regional Planning

Regional concept in geography, Concept of planning region
Types of regions and methods of regionalisation (Formal and Functional)
Regional hierarchy
Conceptual and theoretical framework of regional planning
Theories of Regional Development (Albert O. Hirschman, Gunnar Myrdal, John Friedman)
Dependency theory of Underdevelopment, Global Economic Blocks
Concept of development and indicators of development
Regional imbalances, World Regional Disparities
Regional planning in India
Regional Development and Social Movements in India

NET Regional Planning — Detailed Syllabus (Pulakesh Pradhan)

Syllabus Topics

Regional concept in Geography and its application in planning
Concept of planning region
Regional hierarchy
Types of region and methods of regional delineation
Planning region: conceptual and theoretical framework of regional planning
Regional imbalances
Concept of development
Indicators of development

Important Topics for NET

High-Yield Topics

Regional concept in Geography
Planning region
Regional hierarchy
Types of region
Methods of regional delineation
Growth Pole theory
Core-Periphery model
Cumulative causation theory
Five Year Plans in India
Regionalisation schemes of India
Surveys for planning
Indicators and measures of regional disparities

Welcome to the Regional Development module of Geography OpenCourseWare.

Part A: Common Topics (NEP-2020 & UGC NET)

These topics are covered in both the NEP-2020 undergraduate syllabus and the UGC NET syllabus.

Concept and Types of Regions

📘 Syllabus Coverage

Syllabus	Topic Details
NEP-2020	Unit I — Concept of Region, Types of regions: Formal, Functional and Planning
UGC NET	Regional concept in geography; Types of regions and methods of regionalisation

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Key Concepts

Concept of Region: An area of the Earth’s surface with specific characteristics that distinguish it from surrounding areas. A mental construct created for spatial study.
Formal Region (Uniform/Homogeneous Region): An area defined by one or more common attributes (e.g., climate type, language, crop region). Example: the Corn Belt.
Functional Region (Nodal Region): An area organized around a node or focal point, connected by flows (transport, communication, trade). Example: a metropolitan area and its commuter zone.
Planning Region: An area delineated for administrative or planning purposes. Must be large enough to take investment decisions, have some resource homogeneity, and possess an administrative center.
Regional Hierarchy: Regions exist at different scales (macro, meso, micro) forming a nested hierarchy.
Core-Periphery Model (John Friedman): Identified four types of regions: Core regions, Upward transitional regions, Downward transitional regions, and Resource frontier regions.
Regional Examples:
- Gangetic Plain: Sub-divided into Lower, Middle, Upper, and Trans Gangetic Plain.
- Four Asian Tigers: High-growth economies including Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Concept of Region — Detailed (NET Notes — Pulakesh Pradhan)

Definition

**Any space having common characteristics can be called a region*

Classification of Regions

By Nature: Formal, Functional, Perceptual, Nodal, Planning Region

By Level of Planning: State level, District level, Village level, Micro, Meso, Macro

By Development Level: Developed, Backward — BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha), Neutral

By Activity: Agricultural, Mining, Service

Definitions of Region by Scholars

Scholar	Definition / Idea
K. Young	A geographic area united culturally, first economically, and later by consensus of thought, education and recreation
Minshull	There is only one region — the surface of the earth on which mankind finds its home
Kant	Regions based on dissimilarities across boundaries
Humboldt	Regions are tools to study the unity of nature
Richthofen	Region as an assemblage of phenomena of diverse origin existing together in a place
Whittlesey	Region is a segment of earth’s surface homogeneous in terms of areal grouping
James	Distinction between arbitrary area and spatially meaningful region

Regional Concept in Geography (NET Notes)

Important Statements

William Bunge: *“Systematic geography must move into theoretical sphere and regional geography into search for generic and not unique studies”
C.C. Carter: *“Regions are good servants but bad masters”
Patrick Geddes: Region consists of trinity of **Place, Folk and Work*
Concept of mental map — Roger Gold
Concept of Chorology — Kant

Key Books

Book	Author
Theoretical Geography	William Bunge
Methods of Regional Analysis (1960)	Walter Isard
Elements of Regional Economics	Harry W. Richardson
New Exploration: A Philosophy of Regional Planning	Benton MacKaye

Delineation of Regions

📘 Syllabus Coverage

Syllabus	Topic Details
NEP-2020	Unit I — Delineation of Formal and Functional regions; Approaches and Methods
UGC NET	Types of regions and methods of regionalisation

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Key Concepts

Delineation of Formal Regions: Finding boundaries where homogeneity ends.
- Methods: Superimposition of index maps, Statistical methods (Weighted Index, Principal Component Analysis/Cluster Analysis).
Delineation of Functional Regions: Defining the sphere of influence of a node.
- Methods: Flow analysis (traffic, commuting, telephone calls), Gravitational analysis (Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation, breaking point equation).
Characteristics of an Ideal Planning Region: Contiguous, viable resource base, social-cultural cohesion, administrative convenience, nodal center.

Methodology and Techniques of Regional Planning (NET Notes — Pulakesh Pradhan)

Meaning

Methodology — system of methods and principles in a discipline
Technique — practical mode of executing those methods

Regional Planning Process

Investigation → Analysis → Synthesis

Analysis: Listing all design requirements and reducing them to logically related performance criteria

Synthesis: Finding solutions for each performance criterion and building complete design

Chadwick (1971) — Four Stages of Planning

Describing the system
Goal formation
Projecting the system
Developing an optimum system model

Important Techniques

Forecasting techniques (population, manpower)
Industrial location analysis
Economic base analysis
Regional multiplier analysis
Input-output analysis — developed by **W. Leontief*
Social accounting
Social area analysis — developed by **E. Shevky*
Model building — Wilson gave a two-fold role
Gravity model, Flow analysis
Factor analysis — **Berry*
Weighted index number method — **Boudeville*

Regional Delineation Methods — Detailed (NET Notes)

Method	Associated Scholar / Note
Flow Analysis	Matrix form; variation of graph theory method
Gravity Analysis	Related to masses of two nodal regions; compares actual and factual values
Factor Analysis	Berry
Weighted Index Number Method	Bodo Boudeville
Principal Component Analysis	Used to study regional disparities in India

Functional Delineation

Flow and gravitational analysis are techniques for actual delineation of **functional regions*

Breaking Point Theory

Determines the breaking point between two centres
Related to **Law of Retail Gravitation*

Law of Retail Trade Gravitation

Predicts the proportion of retail trade that two towns derive from an intermediate settlement

Development Concepts and Regional Disparities

📘 Syllabus Coverage

Syllabus	Topic Details
NEP-2020	Unit III — Regional Disparity and Imbalances in India
UGC NET	Concept and indicators of development; Regional imbalances, World Regional Disparities

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Key Concepts

Concept of Development: Structural transformation of economy, society, and institutions leading to improved quality of life (not just economic growth).
Indicators of Development:
- Economic: Per capita income, GDP, sectoral composition.
- Social: Literacy rate, life expectancy, IMR, poverty ratio.
- Composite: Human Development Index (HDI), Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Gender Inequality Index (GII).
Regional Imbalances: Unequal distribution of resources, industrialization, and infrastructure across space. Caused primarily by historical advantages and physical geographical factors. While unequal investment by central governments may exist, it is not considered the primary underlying explanation for uneven development in India.
Measurement: Coefficient of Variation, Lorenz Curve, Gini Coefficient, Principal Component Analysis of socio-economic variables. Principal Component Analysis is considered as the segregated set of relationship among the factors of an event.