Rethinking Mega-Regions: Sub-Regional Politics in a Fragmented Metropolis

S<sc>chafran</sc> A. Rethinking mega-regions: sub-regional politics in a fragmented metropolis, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. The recent surge in mega-regional research in the United States has identified the need for analysis at a gargantuan scale. A corresponding set of arguments examines the difficulty for planning and political intervention at this scale. Using an empirical examination of one mega-region -- Northern California -- this paper argues for a rethinking of mega-regional geography, one which differentiates between mega-regions as an ever-expanding envelope and mega-regions as a particular set of impacted spaces. This approach, which requires a more nuanced understanding of the historical formation of individual mega-regions, enables a tactical, sub-regional intervention, even as the scale of analysis expands.