The Summer/Fall 2015 issue of Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge Into Housing and Community Development Policy, which highlights regional planning, is now available. This issue examines opportunities and challenges inherent to regional-scale planning and profiles several communities that have taken a holistic approach to addressing their housing, transportation, environmental, and economic needs and goals. Additionally, this issue of Evidence Matters explores how federal government grants and dissemination of best practices foster regional planning. 

Key Findings

• Bodies of literature on topics concerning regional planners, such as affordable housing, transportation, climate change, and resilience, suggest that many of the challenges facing local communities require solutions at the regional level.
• Renewed federal emphasis on multidimensional regional planning has resulted in the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which coordinates federal investments and policies in housing, development, transportation, and environmental protection.
• While traditional regional thinking and planning focused largely on structural changes to address the challenges of providing public services, contemporary regional planning increasingly emphasizes forming cooperative relationships among local governments and stakeholders to tackle complex multijurisdictional issues.
• Effective collaboration, robust community engagement, and sound data analysis are crucial for implementing regional planning frameworks.