Local Jurisdictions Research Articles

How Different Land Systems Lead to Discrepancy of Rural Population–Land Relationships: Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

There are two types of land systems in China: collective-owned and state-owned. Under both systems, differences in land ownership have led to different land-use and management systems, resulting in urban–rural dual structures under the jurisdiction of local governments and urban–rural unitary structures in reclamation areas of the state-owned land system. This has significantly changed the relationship between the rural population and land, which has been intensified by rapid urbanization and industrialization. Therefore, based on the rural population and remote sensing data, this study uses the Tapio decoupling model to determine the relationships between the rural population and residential land under different land systems. The main results indicate that the evolution of the rural population and residential land area under different land systems presents an obvious inverse relationship. From 1995 to 2020, under the jurisdiction of the local government, the land area and population of rural dwellers declined, with the decline in population being faster than that in residential areas. At the same time, the spatial agglomeration of residential areas from the middle to the south of the province expanded. In contrast, the population and residential land area showed significant reverse changes in state-owned domains. Rural residential land area declined, and the rural population increased, most notably in the eastern region. Furthermore, strong negative decoupling between the rural population and rural residential land was observed in areas under local government jurisdiction (accounting for 89.61%), meaning that the population declined while the living area increased, which is not conducive to increasing intensive land-use and productivity. Simultaneously, in state-owned domains, only 33.33% of the rural population and residential land areas presented the above-mentioned negative decoupling, with the remaining 66.67% being coordinated. After 2010, due to the socio-economic gap, the proportion of coordination in local government jurisdiction areas continued to decrease, whereas coordination in reclamation areas remained stable. Therefore, the data suggest that a single land allocation and governance regime across urban and rural domains under the state-owned land system is more helpful in enabling populations and efficient land-use. This suggests that, in the future, it will be helpful to consider promoting the effective integration of urban and rural land markets, optimizing the allocation of urban and rural land resources, and enhancing the reform of the rural land system in order to realize synergistic interactions between the urban and rural populations and construction land in Heilongjiang Province.

Quantifying fire-specific smoke exposure and health impacts.

Rapidly changing wildfire regimes across the Western United States have driven more frequent and severe wildfires, resulting in wide-ranging societal threats from wildfires and wildfire-generated smoke. However, common measures of fire severity focus on what is burned, disregarding the societal impacts of smoke generated from each fire. We combine satellite-derived fire scars, air parcel trajectories from individual fires, and predicted smoke PM2.5 to link source fires to resulting smoke PM2.5 and health impacts experienced by populations in the contiguous United States from April 2006 to 2020. We quantify fire-specific accumulated smoke exposure based on the cumulative population exposed to smoke PM2.5 over the duration of a fire and estimate excess asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits as a result of this exposure. We find that excess asthma visits attributable to each fire are only moderately correlated with common measures of wildfire severity, including burned area, structures destroyed, and suppression cost. Additionally, while recent California fires contributed nearly half of the country's smoke-related excess asthma ED visits during our study period, the most severe individual fire was the 2007 Bugaboo fire in the Southeast. We estimate that a majority of smoke PM2.5 comes from sources outside the local jurisdictions where the smoke is experienced, with 87% coming from fires in other counties and 60% from fires in other states. Our approach could enable broad-scale assessment of whether specific fire characteristics affect smoke toxicity or impact, inform cost-effectiveness assessments for allocation of suppression resources, and help clarify the growing transboundary nature of local air quality.

Heat Mitigation in the Southeastern United States: Are Cooling Centers Equitable and Strategic?

abstract: In the face of anthropogenic climate change, the ability of communities to reduce the heat-health burden remains a significant public health issue. This research is the first to identify cooling centers across the southeastern United States, providing a resource for stakeholders. The study evaluates the spatial relationship of these venues for heat-vulnerable populations. Using a survey and publicly available data, researchers identified 1,433 cooling centers, though significant variability exists across states and local jurisdictions. Of the nine states examined, Tennessee was the only location with a health system–supported cooling center network. Only 36 percent of the Southeast's population lives within a fifteen-minute drive of a cooling center. In most states, less than 10 percent of vulnerable populations (elderly, non-white, below poverty) are within this driveshed. Most cooling centers were found in urban environments, although heat vulnerability is not exclusively a city issue. Further research is needed to strengthen cross-agency collaboration and evaluate the effectiveness of cooling centers in areas of both high and low population density. Some states have integrated heat as part of hazard mitigation plans, but additional research is needed to explore how these plans go beyond hazard identification and strengthen vulnerable communities' ability to mitigate heat risk.

Enhancing the Spatial Transferability of Direct Demand Models for Estimating Pedestrian Volumes at Intersections

Direct demand (DD) models are an important tool for estimating annual average daily pedestrian traffic (AADPT) for all intersections in a jurisdiction. These models associate socioeconomic and land-use variables with pedestrian exposure and allow the estimation of AADPT for sites where pedestrian counts are not (readily) available. However, some jurisdictions lack pedestrian volume counts from a sufficiently large number of intersections to develop their own DD model or do not have the institutional resources to carry out the model development. Under these circumstances, a cost-effective alternative is to use DD models that were developed in other jurisdictions. Previous research evaluated the spatial transferability of DD models in scenarios where no pedestrian counts are available (i.e., naïve transferability) and showed that this resulted in large estimation errors. This paper examines methods to improve the estimation accuracy of spatially transferred DD models by using AADPT that is readily accessible to jurisdictions (we call this local calibration). Five local calibration models were proposed and evaluated using observed field counts and synthesized counts from three jurisdictions. The best model to use is a function of the number of local jurisdiction sites for which pedestrian counts are available. When pedestrian volume is available for 10% of the sites, Model C presented the best results for the synthetic approach: an average improvement of 8.7% when comparing the locally calibrated and naïve estimates. Using real AADPTs and very limited samples for local calibration, Model C also presented the best performance: an average improvement of 35.0%.

Networks Matter: Examining migration networks using cellphone data following hurricane Maria

In this paper, we investigate migration patterns in a post-disaster setting using aggregated cell-phone data that tracked thousands of people that fled Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. These data allow us to assess the relationship between post-disaster migration and levels of social and economic vulnerability in destination counties in the context of pre-existing migration networks. Our findings suggest that pre-disaster migration patterns predict post-disaster destinations, suggesting that existing networks act as valuable support systems that post-disaster migrants rely upon when leaving areas facing significant disruptions. Further, these findings suggest that understanding existing flows of migration before a disaster can help anticipate climate-induced migration patterns that may create stressors on local jurisdictions as disasters become more frequent and severe.

The Diffusion of Electrification Policy in U.S. Local Governments: A Case Study of Bellingham’s “Gas Ban”

In the absence of meaningful federal climate policy in the United States, states and local governments are poised to make a substantial contribution to decarbonization efforts. At present, over 70 local jurisdictions and two states have enacted building electrification policies that limit the use of natural gas in buildings and seek to “electrify” the building sector and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. In this case study, we examine building electrification policy passed in the City of Bellingham, Washington, in early 2022. We apply concepts from policy innovation and diffusion scholarship and propose a conceptual model that identifies factors likely to help or hinder electrification policymaking in local governments across the United States in the future.

School and childcare facility air quality decision-makers’ perspectives on using low-cost sensors for wildfire smoke response

BackgroundDuring wildfire smoke episodes, school and childcare facility staff and those who support them rely upon air quality data to inform activity decisions. Where ambient regulatory monitor data is sparse, low-cost sensors can help inform local outdoor activity decisions, and provide indoor air quality data. However, there is no established protocol for air quality decision-makers to use sensor data for schools and childcare facilities. To develop practical, effective toolkits to guide the use of sensors in school and childcare settings, it is essential to understand the perspectives of the potential end-users of such toolkit materials.MethodsWe conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with school, childcare, local health jurisdiction, air quality, and school district personnel regarding sensor use for wildfire smoke response. Interviews included sharing PM2.5 data collected at schools during wildfire smoke. Interviews were transcribed and transcripts were coded using a codebook developed both a priori and amended as additional themes emerged.ResultsThree major themes were identified by organizing complementary codes together: (1) Low-cost sensors are useful despite data quality limitations, (2) Low-cost sensor data can inform decision-making to protect children in school and childcare settings, and (3) There are feasibility and public perception-related barriers to using low-cost sensors.ConclusionsInterview responses provided practical implications for toolkit development, including demonstrating a need for toolkits that allow a variety of sensor preferences. In addition, participants expected to have a wide range of available time for monitoring, budget for sensors, and decision-making types. Finally, interview responses revealed a need for toolkits to address sensor uses outside of activity decisions, especially assessment of ventilation and filtration.

How is climate change adaptation aid allocated? A study of climate justice in Ecuador


 
 
 This paper analyses the allocation of climate adaptation aid in subnational and local jurisdictions in Ecuador. It examines the influence of physical and socioeconomic vulnerability and local capacity as independent variables of aid allocation. The study introduces projections of physical vulnerability to determine whether inter-generational aspects of climate justice are taken into account and uses geographically weighted regression models to study the spatial distribution of aid allocation. The findings show that physical and socioeconomic vulnerabilities influence adaptation aid allocation. However, projected changes in patterns of precipitation and temperatures are not associated with this variable. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of current climate aid is uneven, leaving clusters of vulnerable jurisdictions unattended. Finally, the study finds no association between local capacity and adaptation aid allocation. Findings suggest that the allocation of adaptation aid may not contribute to achieving adaptation scenarios where justice for current and future generations is central to decision-making.
 
 

Jurisdictional decision-making about building codes for resiliency and sustainability post-fire

The increasing frequency and size of wildfires across the U.S. motivates the growing need to identify how affected communities can rebuild sustainably and resiliently. This study examines the jurisdictional decision-making process surrounding one important class of sustainability and resiliency decisions, focusing on energy and wildfire building codes for housing reconstruction. Through 22 interviews with staff and elected officials in three jurisdictions impacted by Colorado’s Marshall Fire, we identify factors influencing decisions. Code decisions varied across jurisdictions and, in some cases, building codes were relaxed, while in other cases, increased resiliency and sustainability standards were adopted after the fire. Jurisdictions with more experience had more certainty regarding code costs and effectiveness, leading to more stringent code adoption. Thus, findings encourage jurisdictions to create rebuilding plans pre-disaster to reduce the impact of uncertainty in post-disaster decision-making. The data also indicate that while local jurisdictions are well-suited to work cooperatively with homeowners impacted by disasters to return to the community, the state can play a role by informing or mandating disaster plans or establishing minimum code requirements.

Implementation of California COVIDNet - a multi-sector collaboration for statewide SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represented a formidable scientific and technological challenge to public health due to its rapid spread and evolution. To meet these challenges and to characterize the virus over time, the State of California established the California SARS-CoV-2 Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Initiative, or "California COVIDNet". This initiative constituted an unprecedented multi-sector collaborative effort to achieve large-scale genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across California to monitor the spread of variants within the state, to detect new and emerging variants, and to characterize outbreaks in congregate, workplace, and other settings. California COVIDNet consists of 50 laboratory partners that include public health laboratories, private clinical diagnostic laboratories, and academic sequencing facilities as well as expert advisors, scientists, consultants, and contractors. Data management, sample sourcing and processing, and computational infrastructure were major challenges that had to be resolved in the midst of the pandemic chaos in order to conduct SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance. Data management, storage, and analytics needs were addressed with both conventional database applications and newer cloud-based data solutions, which also fulfilled computational requirements. Representative and randomly selected samples were sourced from state-sponsored community testing sites. Since March of 2021, California COVIDNet partners have contributed more than 450,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced from remnant samples from both molecular and antigen tests. Combined with genomes from CDC-contracted WGS labs, there are currently nearly 800,000 genomes from all 61 local health jurisdictions (LHJs) in California in the COVIDNet sequence database. More than 5% of all reported positive tests in the state have been sequenced, with similar rates of sequencing across 5 major geographic regions in the state. Implementation of California COVIDNet revealed challenges and limitations in the public health system. These were overcome by engaging in novel partnerships that established a successful genomic surveillance program which provided valuable data to inform the COVID-19 public health response in California. Significantly, California COVIDNet has provided a foundational data framework and computational infrastructure needed to respond to future public health crises.

On the fragility of the Italian economic territories under SARS-COV2 lockdown policies

AbstractWe leverage a granular representation of mobility patterns before and during the first wave of SARS-COV2 in Italy to investigate the economic consequences of various forms of lockdown policies when accounting for mobility restrictions between and within local jurisdictions, i.e. municipalities, provinces and regions. We provide an analytical characterization of the rate of economic losses using a network-based spectral method. The latter treats the spread of contagion of economic losses due to commuting restrictions as a dynamical system stability problem. Our results indicate that the interplay between lower level of smartworking and the polarization of commuting flows to fewer local labor hubs in the South of Italy makes Southern territories extremely important in spreading economic losses. We estimate an economic contraction of total income derived from commuting restrictions in the range of 10–30% depending on the economic assumptions. However, alternative policies proposed during the second wave of SARS-COV2 can pose a greater risk to Northern areas due to their higher degree of mobility between jurisdictions than Southern ones. The direction of economic losses tend to propagate from large to medium-small jurisdictions across all alternative lockdown policies we tested. Our study shows how complex mobility patterns can have unequal consequences to economic losses across the country and call for more tailored implementation of restrictions to balance the containment of contagion with the need to sustain economic output.

What’s local policy got to do with it? Testing the efficacy of federal interventions to protect coastal parks from sunscreen chemical pollution in Hawaii and North Carolina

Across the United States, conservation policies often differ based on the local or state jurisdiction, which can present challenges for federal natural resource managers with mandates to protect lands and waters in these areas. To reduce sunscreen chemical pollution in park aquatic ecosystems, the National Park Service (NPS) suggests that visitors apply non-nanotized mineral-based sunscreens and wear sun-protective clothing. In summer 2021, researchers tested whether visitor exposure to interventions promoting NPS sun protection recommendations was associated with these behaviors in two very different local policy contexts. A survey was fielded in July and August 2021 at coastal parks in North Carolina and Hawaii. At the time of the study, Hawaii had implemented a ban on the sale of sunscreen containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, whereas North Carolina had no pending legislation. We found similar park visitor behaviors, use of sunscreen chemical formulations, and responses to NPS interventions, regardless of local policy status. At both locations, respondents demonstrated high levels of pro-environmental intent and similar sun protection behaviors. Of the three sunscreen chemical “Os” that have been banned in regions of the United States—octocrylene, oxybenzone, and octinoxate—octocrylene was the most frequently reported active ingredient in sunscreens. Only about a third of sunscreen products reported by visitors included zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide as the sole active ingredients, formulations most commonly cited as less environmentally harmful. And at both locations, visitor exposure to at least one of the interventions on sun protection related to higher levels of intent to practice the recommended behaviors.

Establishing a Protocol for Determining the Costs of an Integrated Set of Evidence-based Practices Aimed at Reducing Opioid Overdose Deaths.

In the midst of the opioid overdose crisis, local jurisdictions face a choice of public health interventions. A significant barrier when considering evidence-based practices (EBPs) is the lack of information regarding their implementation cost. This protocol paper provides the methodological foundation for the economic cost evaluations of community-wide strategies on the scale of a national study. It can serve as a resource for other communities, local policymakers, and stakeholders as they consider implementing possible public health strategies in their unique settings. We present a protocol that details (1) the process of identifying, reviewing, and analyzing individual strategies for study-funded and non-study-funded costs; (2) prospective costing tool designation, and; (3) data collection. To do this, we set up working groups with community stakeholders, reviewed financial invoices, and surveyed individuals with detailed knowledge of their community implementation. There were 3 main challenges/limitations. The first was the lack of a standard structure for documenting nonfunded costs associated with each strategy. The second was the need for timely implementation of cost data. The third was generalizability because our study designed its strategies for selected communities due to their high opioid overdose mortality rates. Future steps include more tailored questions to ask during the categorization/filter process and establishing realistic expectations for organizations regarding documenting. Data collected will provide a critical methodological foundation for costing large community-based EBP strategies and provide clarity for stakeholders on the cost of implementing EBP strategies to reduce opioid overdose deaths.

Caught Between a Well-Intentioned State and a Hostile Federal System: Local Implementation of Inclusive Immigrant Policies.

In the United States, inclusive state-level policies can advance immigrant health and health care access by extending noncitizens' access to public benefits, workplace rights, and protections from immigration enforcement. Although state policies carry promise as structural population health interventions, there has been little examination of their implementation at the local level. Local jurisdictions play multiple roles in state policy implementation and possess distinct immigration climates. Examining the local implementation of state immigrant policy can address challenges and opportunities to ensure the health benefits of inclusive policies are realized equitably across states' regions. To examine the local implementation of state immigrant policies, we selected a purposive sample of California counties with large immigrant populations and distinct social and political dynamics and conducted and analyzed in-depth interviews with 20 community-based organizations that provided health, safety net, and other services. We found that there were tensions between the inclusionary goals of state immigrant policies and local anti-immigrant climates and federal policy changes. First, there were tensions between state policy goals and resistance from local law enforcement agencies and policymakers (e.g., Board of Supervisors). Second, because of the ongoing threats from federal immigration policies, there was a mismatch between the services and resources provided by state policies and local community needs. Finally, organizations that served immigrants were responsible for contributing to policy implementation but lacked resources to meet community needs while countering local resistance and federal policy threats. This study contributes knowledge regarding the challenges that emerge after state immigrant policies are enacted. The tensions among state immigrant policies, local immigration climates, and federal policy changes indicate that state immigrant policies are not implemented equally across state communities, resulting in challenges and limited benefits from policies for many immigrant communities.

Wyoming

The Wyoming state legislature holds the responsibility of establishing and funding the education system, as outlined in the state constitution. The funding formula for K–12 education in Wyoming adjusts every 5 years and considers factors like inflation and regional cost differences. The state spends approximately $18,144 per public school student annually and allows districts to set their own open enrollment policies. Charter schools, under local school board jurisdiction, receive around $400,000 per year for lease payments, while privatized and religiously affiliated schools are ineligible to become charter schools. A failed legislative bill aimed to reimburse parents for private school or homeschooling expenses. In the 2022–2024 Wyoming state budget, $1.523 billion in state funding is allocated to the basic support formula for the 2022–2023 school year, with an additional $245.4 million for K–12 capital construction and major maintenance. Property taxes serve as the primary revenue source for K-12 education, and the state also utilizes the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund and other permanent funds for supplemental investment income. Wyoming ranks among the top 10 states with the highest per pupil spending, with a state pupil expenditure of approximately $16,224 in 2023.

Exploring emergent collaborations for digital transformation in local governments: The engagement of public libraries in the development of smart cities

Collaboration is increasingly perceived as essential for digital transformation in the public sector. Transforming services and internal operations through the use of information and communication technologies frequently requires the engagement of multiple stakeholders beyond government agencies. This is particularly important in the specific case of smart city initiatives, which intend to leverage technologies to address complex socio-economic and sustainability challenges in local jurisdictions. In addition, emergent research asserts that community organizations such as public libraries can be strategic partners in these multi-actor efforts but does not adequately assess the determinants of these collaborations for developing smart cities, which may result in significant digital transformation at the local level. Based on public management literature on collaboration, this article contributes to digital transformation research by quantitively testing the antecedents of existing collaborations between public libraries and other stakeholders to develop smart cities. Overall, our findings suggest that leadership, preexisting relationships, and agreement on initial aims significantly impact the extent and effectiveness of public libraries' collaborations in developing smart cities.

A Review of the Evaluation of Building Energy Code Compliance in the United States

Building energy codes are essential tools for achieving energy efficiency in buildings. However, the full energy savings potential of these codes can only be realized if buildings are constructed in compliance with them. Therefore, evaluating building energy code compliance is crucial in bridging the gap between the energy efficiency requirements set by energy codes and the actualized energy savings achieved. An energy code compliance evaluation serves as a mechanism to assess construction practices, evaluate the effectiveness of code enforcement, identify gaps in compliance, and guide strategies for improvement through training and education. Conducting code compliance evaluation activities involves field studies that require careful design and significant resources. Historically, more emphasis has been placed on developing and adopting building energy codes, while efforts to evaluate compliance have been relatively limited and lacking consistent approaches. The passage of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which mandated that states create plans for achieving 90% compliance within eight years, stimulated the need for an energy code compliance evaluation. As a result, federal, state, and local governments, and utilities have invested in the development of methodologies and tools for code compliance evaluation studies. This paper reviews the code compliance evaluation studies conducted in the United States over the past three decades. It describes and compares the methodologies and metrics used to assess building energy code compliance, summarizes the general elements and steps involved in the evaluation process, and discusses common issues in these studies. Over time, code compliance evaluation methodologies have evolved from isolated development within individual states, regions, and utilities, to widely accepted protocols applicable across different states and local jurisdictions. There has been a transition in compliance metrics, shifting from historical compliance rates to energy-consumption-oriented approaches.

A content review of state tobacco pre-emption laws in the US

ObjectivesState ceiling pre-emption laws effectively limit the authority of local governments to regulate numerous public health issues, including tobacco. While general trends in the number of state tobacco pre-emption laws have been well-documented, less is known about the specific content of these laws. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the content of current state tobacco pre-emption laws and captures the salient features of these laws. Study designThis was a comparative analysis of tobacco pre-emption laws in the United States. MethodsThe study team collected data about tobacco pre-emption laws from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System. Trained legal researchers further verified and reviewed each law's content using the Westlaw database. A coding scheme was developed to capture and analyse these laws' most salient features. ResultsState tobacco pre-emption laws use various terms to indicate the pre-emption of a local authority, including supersede, pre-empt, uniform, exclusive, and consistent. State laws cover numerous general topics and vary widely in explicit terminology of authorities and fields pre-empted. Several state laws included grandfathering exceptions and a few allowed exceptions for particular local jurisdictions. ConclusionsState laws that undermine local tobacco control efforts from implementing more stringent laws pose a threat to public health. These laws vary widely in their scope across the U.S., and local jurisdictions should be empowered to enact and maintain tobacco control measures that protect their communities from the harms of tobacco use and exposure.

Exploring the Presence and Type of Premium Cigar Retailers With Neighborhood Sociodemographic Correlates in the United States, 2019-2021.

Little is known about the location and store type of premium cigar retailers in the United States. Different store types may expose people to secondhand smoke (eg, cigar bar or lounge) and may also have age restrictions (eg, tobacco shops) that could reduce youth exposure to products and marketing. We obtained a national retailer dataset from the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) from 2019 to 2021. We coded store type using nine categories and used generalized estimating equations to examine associations between census tract sociodemographic characteristics and PCA store type. Of the 1279 PCA retailers, the majority were cigar stores (39%), followed by tobacco shops (26%), cigar bars or lounges (20%), and beer, wine, or liquor stores (15%). Overall, there were no statistically significant associations between tract-level sociodemographic characteristics and the odds that a retailer was a specific store type versus another store type. However, PCA retailers located in tracts with a higher percentage of non-Hispanic Black residents were associated with 1.12 times the odds of being a cigar bar or lounge versus another type (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.22). The majority of PCA retailers are specialty cigar stores or cigar bars or lounges, and few are more traditional tobacco retailers, such as convenience stores. We document a higher odds of a store being a cigar bar or lounge for retailers located in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black residents, which may contribute to inequities in tobacco-related disease and disability because of potentially greater secondhand smoke exposure. Specialized retailers account for most premium cigar stores. One in five PCA retailers was a cigar bar or lounge, which raises public health concerns around exposure to secondhand smoke for patrons and employees. Local jurisdictions should examine zoning ordinances in tandem with sociodemographic characteristics to ensure inequities in the location of cigar bars or lounges are not produced or sustained given the potential harms associated with secondhand smoke exposure.

Seeing like a region

Abstract Observers of metropolitan dysfunction have long advocated for a regional tier of government that could (among other things) equalize spending across local jurisdictions, pursue cooperative economic development policies, provide for fair share housing, rationalize land use, and coordinate transportation planning. For many good government reformers, right-scaling our fragmented metropolitan areas appears to be an obvious solution to interjurisdictional spillovers and competitive races-to-the-bottom. This article counsels caution. “Region hope”—the idea that the substantive problems of metropolitan governance can be solved regionally by redrawing territorial boundaries to encompass ever-larger areas—is perennial. But territorial manipulation in aid of state centralization has significant drawbacks. The regional impulse exhibits some key features of failed social engineering efforts; seen through the lens of the state, these efforts privilege technocratic over democratic governance, bureaucratic over local knowledge, and mobile over immobile capital. That does not mean that regionalism should be resisted in all cases, but only that the costs of territorial manipulation should be weighed against its asserted benefits.