A region is an area on Earth's
surface marked by a degree of formal, functional, or perceptual
homogeneity of some phenomenon. The three main types of regions are
formal, functional, and vernacular regions. A formal region, also known as a uniform or homogeneous region,
is an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive
characteristics. This common characteristic could be a cultural value such as
language, an economic activity such as production of a certain crop, or an
environmental property such as climate and weather patterns. Whatever the
common characteristic is, it sis present throughout the selected region. In
certain formal regions, the characteristic may be predominant rather than
universal, such as the wheat belt in North America, it is an area in which the
predominant crop is wheat, but other crops are grown here as well.
A functional region, also known as
a nodal region, is a region organized around a node or focal point. The
characteristic chosen to define a functional region dominates at a central
focus or node and diminishes in importance outward. The region is tied to the
central point by transportation, communication systems or by economic or
functional associations. An example of a functional region is the circulation
area of a newspaper. That area is centered around the city in which the
newspaper is published in. The farther away from the city of circulation, the
less people that read the newspaper (this phenomenon is known as distance
decay). A vernacular region, also
known as perceptual region, is a place that people exists as part of their
cultural identity. Perceptual regions vary from person to person. They emerge
from a person' s informal sense of place. An example of a vernacular region
would be the South. My idea of the southern states may be different than my
friend's idea of southern states.
Types of Regions on
the Basis of Stages of Economic Development
1) Developed / Development
Regions
Developed
regions are naturally those which are having a high rate of accretion in goods
and services i.e., their share in the GDP of the country is relatively higher.
This may be with or without rich natural resources by most certainly because of
the use of upgraded technology by highly skilled and motivated persons. A
developed region may become ‘overdeveloped’ in certain respects e.g., it may
suffer from the diseconomies of congestion. Infrastructure costs become very
high and people can go into the jitters due to pollution and stresses of
various types. A developed region is the counterpart of the backward region:
the ‘positive’ side is emphasized in case of the developed region while
‘negative’ aspects are emphasized in case of the backward region.
A
developed region is one, which has exploited its potentialities fully, which
has removed the bottlenecks and speed breakers of development. Developed
regions emerge of their own because of the comparative advantage or may emerge
as a result of the diversion of funds by the government. In many cases
imbalances emerge between developed and backward regions and these imbalances
can be the creation of planners also. Many times disproportionately high
amounts of investment are made in the constituencies of the influential
politicians and some regions become far more developed than the neighboring
regions.
2) Backward Regions
There
can be ‘backward or depressed’ regions in the developing as well as the
developed economies. Backward economies are thoroughly depressed regions. There
is development even in these regions but these regions have not come out of the
low level equilibrium trap. There can be region, which may not be at
subsistence level but may be relatively backward. Lack of infrastructure
facilities, adverse geo-climate conditions, low investment rate, high rate of
growth of population and low levels of urbanization and industrialization are
causes and consequences of backwardness.
In
less developed countries, even the most ancient occupation (agriculture) is
backward and unless it is made progressive with massive real and financial
input support, the region cannot come out of backwardness. Some vestigial
regions (as the regions inhabited by the red Indians in USA/ or tribal in
India) can remain backward and may even remain near the subsistence level. The
inhibitions may have ancient traditions and may be smug in their surroundings,
but the per capita income may be much lower than in the neighboring regions. A
region can be backward because of the high population density or even without
it.
3) Neutral Regions/ Intermediate
Regions
New
towns and satellite belts are designated as ‘neutral’ regions and they promise
good prospects of further development because here further employment
generation and income propagation is possible without congestion. Such regions
can be demarcated around urban centers. Intermediate regions are those regions,
which are ‘islands of development around a sea of stagnation’.
Types of Regions Based on
the Activity Status Analysis
1) Mineral regions
Many
mineral regions promise high growth rates for the region as well as for the
prosperity of the country. If mineral- based industries can be developed in the
region itself, then industrial development will be less costly because much of
the load shedding will be done in the region at low cost. The iron ore deposits
of Bailadeela (Bastar District of Madhya Pradesh) are exported abroad, a plant
could be established near the ore deposits, it would have brought tremendous
development for the region. As the mines continue to yield sufficient minerals
and the costs are also not prohibitive, not only the mineral producing region
develops but it helps other regions also to develop.
After
the minerals exhaust, the region will bear degraded look, people will move away
to other areas and the erstwhile area will bear a deserted look. Germany took
great pains to rehabilitate such areas and vast pits and trenches were suitably
reclaimed for various purposes like water storage, eco-forestry and even
cultivation after enriching the soil. If new deposits of minerals cannot be
discovered, there can be several ways of reclaiming wasteland and developing
non-mineral based activities. Regional planning will require a long-term plan
for developing such regions after extraction is no longer a profitable
activity. The Middle East countries have made adequate planning to diversify
their economies so that after the oil wealth exhausts their economies do not relapse
to backwardness.
2) Manufacturing Regions and
Congested Regions
Some
regions become big manufacturing regions not because they have natural
resources but because of the infrastructure development, momentum of an early
start, continued government support etc. Autonomous, imitative, supplementary,
complementary, induced and speculative investments keep in giving strength to
the manufacturing regions. It would be prudent not to develop narrow
manufacturing base, otherwise territorial specialization can become a problem
if the crop supplying the raw materials fails or if the minerals which are base
for the industries, exhaust. In such regions the internal and external
economies are available in ever greater measure and such regions keep on
developing. When all the thresholds are crossed, such regions become too
congested and the diseconomies overwhelm the economies of production – high
density, increasing pollution, reduction in the quality of life etc.
3) Cultural Regions
A
cultural region can also be quite well demarcated. (French Canada and English
Canada are such regions). In India various states are demarcated on the basis
of language and culture primarily. There are affinities of cultural origin in
such region. A rich cultured region should be rich in economic terms also.
Regions in Regional
Economics
1) Homogenous Region
They
are formal regions and on the basis of homogeneity in topography, rainfall,
climate or other geo-physical characteristic. Economic homogeneity is more
relevant for planning. The structure of employment, the occupational pattern,
the net migration, the density of population, the resource and industrial
structure, if similar in a space, the regions become homogeneous in economic
sense. The greater the economic similarities, the greater the interest the
economists will have in homogeneous regions. Internal differences in a region
are unimportant. Sometimes, a clear cut homogeneous region may have, many
differences in sub-regions as to make them quite different yet a region may remain
‘homogeneous’.
Scotland
or Uttar Pradesh are clear cut homogeneous regions but in topography the hilly
districts of Uttar Pradesh have nothing in common with the districts of the
plains. Eastern and Western districts are also different but Uttar Pradesh
remains a homogeneous region in administrative terms. Thus a homogeneous
economic region can have differing physical characteristics. Homogeneous region
on economic or political criterion may have a lot of heterogeneity from several
other stand points.
Ø Formal Regions
Regions defined formally, often by government
or other structures, are called formal
regions. Cities, towns, states, and countries are all formal regions, as
are things like mountain ranges. Formal regions often nest inside one another, so
that when you are standing in the middle of Trivandrum, you are in the city of
Trivandrum, which is part of state of Kerala, which rests inside the southern
region of India, which is in the country of India, which is on the continent of
Asia. All of those are formal regions.
A
formal region is homogeneous with reference to some geo-physical characteristic
such as topography, climate of vegetation. This is physical formal region.
Later on there was a shift from this narrow approach to a broader approach and
economic, social and political criteria were also applied. An industrial or
agricultural or plantation region is a formal economic region; or a state
governed by a particular party is a formal political region.
Ø Functional regions
It consist of a central place and the
surrounding areas that are dependent upon that place, such as a metropolitan
area. The
functional region is concerned with interdependence. This is a geographical
area in which there is economic interdependence. The nodal regions are functional
regions between which there are flows of men, material and money.
Ø Vernacular regions
A vernacular region is an area that has been
identified based on people's perception of culture.
2) Polarized / Nodal /
Heterogeneous / Functional Regions
Polarized
or nodal regions look to a centre-a large town usually-for service. Its
influence extends beyond the area of the city. The villages are dependent upon
it for services and marketing. There is little concern for uniformity when a
polarized or nodal region is taken. The city region need not correspond to the
administrative region because hinterland of several clear cut regions may be
served by a city. (For example even the persons of Gwalior may visit Delhi for
buying some consumer durables of high value. A capital city may attract
customers form several districts around the capital city.)
A
nodal region will have heterogeneous economy around it. Regional economists are
more concerned with what happens within a nodal region and spatial dimension of
the nodal region assumes importance. Population and industries agglomerate and
there are core regions with higher per capita income generation through higher
production of goods and services. Within regions there are dominant cities or
nodes to which flows of inputs, goods, people and traffic gravitate. Within the
cities there are nuclei that form business and social centres and which are
discernible at a glance from an intra-metropolitan traffic-flow density map.
As
the distance increases, the costs of overcoming frictions will rise and the
people of different areas will look for a different nodal point. Each region
will have one or more dominant nodes and it will be interesting to find and
record as to which interior areas form the areas of influence of one or the other
node. Nodal regions provide an understanding of the functional relationship
between settlements, which fill up the space. These heterogeneous units in
rural and urban areas are functionally related because each settlement cannot
have all the functions and facilities. All functions require a particular
threshold population and other facilities (Each settlement cannot have a
college or unless there is electricity, there cannot be cinema hall or a bank
branch).
3) Planning Regions
Planning
regions depend upon the type of multi-level planning in the country. A very
small country will naturally have one level planning. A planning region in a
multi-level setup requires regional plan, which is a spatial plan for the
systematic location of functions and facilities in relation to human
settlements so that people may use them to their maximum advantages. In fact
more important than reducing the regional disparities is the task of ensuring
that backward region and rural areas have basic minimum needs. Planning region
for different activities can be different and a regional plan will be
locational in character for that activity/function.
For
comprehensive planning, there has to be a national plan and then a state plan
and finally district/block plans. Since a planning region is a sub national
area demarcated for the purpose of translating national objectives into
regional programs and policies, and since plan formulation and implementation
need administrative machinery, administrative regions are generally accepted as
planning regions.
The
hierarchy of planning region would be (i) national level (ii) macro level (iii)
state level (iv) meso level (v) and micro level. A planning region must be
large enough to take investment decisions of an economic size, must be able to
apply its own industry with the necessary labor, should have a homogeneous
economic structure, contain at least one growth point and have a common
approach to and awareness of its problems. In short, a planning region should
be defined according to the purpose of one’s analysis. Ideally a planning
region should have adequate resources to establish a satisfactory pattern of
savings, capital formation, investment, production, employment, income
generation and consumption pattern. It means that the area should be
economically viable.
Types of Regions in
Multi-Level Planning Perspective
1) Macro Region
Macro
region is naturally bigger. Macro region can be a state of even a group of
states, if the states of a country are not big enough. For example, in India
there are East, West, North, South and Central Zones and ‘Zonal Councils’ of
which function is mutual consultation, developing cooperation and mutual
counseling. In a sense macro regions are second in hierarchy, next to the
national level. It is also possible that a physical macro region may comprise
parts of different states of a country for project planning purposes (e.g. big
river valley projects, an electric grid of different states and for the purpose
of a particular activity planning).
State
boundaries are not respected in the sense that the macro region may transcend
or cut across administrative boundaries of the states of a country. A macro
region may not be uniform or homogeneous in all respects. It may have
homogeneity in one respect (physical complementarity) and may have
heterogeneity in other respect (administrative boundaries). A macro region
should have a common resource base and specialization in that resource base, so
that production activities can develop on the principle of comparative
advantage based on territorial division of labor (India has been divided into
11 to 20 macro regions, agro-climate or resource regions). The planning
Commission of India would have just 5 zonal councils-Eastern, Northern,
Central, Western and Southern comprising of certain states but beyond this
there is no macro-regionalization in India. These so-called macro regions of
India have to have interstate cooperation in the matter of utilization of river
water and electricity grids etc.
2) Meso Region
Meso
region can be identified with a ‘division’ of a state. Chattisgarh region,
Bundelkhand region, Baghelkahand region, Mahakoshal region is usually a
sub-division of a state, comprising of several districts. There should be some
identifiable affinity in the area which may even facilitate planning. It can be
cultural or administrative region and it will be even better if it is a
homogeneous physical region (resource) region. A meso region can also become a
nodal region provided the combined micro regions or parts thereof can be
developed in a complementary manner.
3) Micro Region
In
multi-level planning, district is the micro region. It becomes the lowest
territorial unit of planning in the hierarchy of planning regions. The most
important reason why district is the most viable micro region for planning is
the existence of database and compact administration. This is the area, which
is viable for plan formulation with administration for plan implementation and
monitoring. A metropolitan area can be one micro region and the area of
influence can be another micro region. A nodal point is also a micro region,
though in many cases micro regions are basically rural areas, which may have a
number of minor nodes without any organizational hierarchy influencing the
entire area. The basic characteristic of a micro region is its smallness.
4) Micro – Minor Region
This
is the region which is associated with, what is called, the grass-root
planning. A micro-minor region can be a block for which also data exists now
and for which there may be a plan. The block level plan is integrated with the
national plan, through the district and state level plans. A block level plan
is not surgically cut portion of the district plan, which has its own logic and
linkage. At block level, most of the officers will be more concerned with the
implementation of the plans than formulating the plans. At block level, the
main exercise will be to take into account of the physical and human resources
and to find out the prime moving activities which will enable the block people
to make best use of the development potential of the block to meet the basic
needs of the people.
Minimum
needs can be satisfied with the production of basic goods with the help of low
entropy local resources. In fact, planning of the development of the transport,
communication, banking, education, medical and many service facilities has got
to be done at the national level. At the panchayat level, basic goods and
services can be arranged through the efforts of the local people. Many
activities can be so planned that they improve the socio-economic conditions of
the people without being the part of the national plan.
Several
activities can be undertaken with the cooperation of the local people, with
minimum of financial and real resource support from outside e.g., development
of dairying, animal husbandry, pisciculture, poultry, soil conservation
measures, optimization of the cropping pattern, production
of inputs locally, improving the storage and transport facilities can be done
at the micro minor level. Many agro based industries and tiny sector guild-type
activities can be developed at the micro-minor level. A good planning can
secure ‘ruralization of the industries’ instead of ‘industrialization of rural
area’. This will involve production of goods ‘by the masses for the masses and
near the masses’.
