Dealing with Megaregion Challenges in North America

As metropolitan regions continued to expand throughout the second half of the 20th century their boundaries began to blur, creating a new scale of geography now known as the megaregion. A megaregion is defined as a large network of metropolitan regions that share several or all of the following:

1. Environmental systems and topography
2. Infrastructure systems 
3. Economic linkages
4. Settlement patterns and land use
5. Shared culture and history

Across the nation, community leaders, businesses, and policymakers are confronted by challenges that affect their cities and neighborhoods but which cannot be solved by actions taken solely at the city or metropolitan scale.

Example challenges:

1. Protecting public watersheds that span multiple state and regional boundaries

2. Moving goods efficiently from coastal ports through congested metropolitan areas to reach inland destinations

3. Providing new jobs in the face of major economic restructuring to a post-industrial economy

What are some other examples of challenges that megaregions bring? Are there any megaregion challenges in your region? Let's discuss!