Fragments of Regionalism: The Limits of Southern California Governance

:This paper explores the manifestations of regional governance in Southern California. The author evaluates whether three regional public authorities, empowered to address areawide transportation and air quality constraints, fragment or integrate regional identity and vision. He examines the lessons of the Southern California experience for other US regions engaged in government reorganization. He argues that Southern California regionalism constitutes a shadow governance characterized by technical bias, single purpose compartmentalization, and institutional insularity. He concludes that the affiliation of regional planning with single purpose and systems maintenance functions has facilitated regionalism at the same time it has limited its potential by functionally fragmenting and submerging the regional public interest.