Regional planning is typically defined as planning or envisioning future perspective of wider area(s) than a jurisdiction of one local government. A regional plan usually deals not only with physical aspects like establishment and maintenance of infrastructures and regulation and guidance of land use as typical contents of urban engineering, but also with various other aspects to a certain extent such as regional economy, society, and environment. Such a characteristic of regional planning leads to more multidisciplinary approach and the application of various qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Another characteristic is the internationality which enables comparative studies of regional planning based on different institutional systems. Discussions among members from various nationalities and backgrounds in the laboratory strengthen logic, appropriateness, and applicability of each study. One of the main approaches of the laboratory is plan/policy evaluation. By comparing input and output of plans and policies, useful implications for better policies including planning system can be obtained.
A doctoral dissertation “Manifestation of Creative Industries in Bangkok, Thailand: The Analysis of Institutional Environment and Spatial Agglomeration in an Engaging Market” is a typical example of the study in the laboratory. The dissertation focuses on the convergence between economic and urban development in creative industries in emerging markets in her country. Based on the analysis of the path dependency of institutional and spatial formation, she conducts quantitative research on accumulation of various creative industries. The results show that the agglomeration in intra-urban scale points the contradiction between centric plan versus actual polycentric agglomeration due to the missing link in decentralization process is the absence of responsible agencies who transfer the policy to tangible outcome.
