What Happens When Metropolitan Areas Meet?

The phenomenon of groups of cities growing to meet each other is not a new one, but it is growing in importance and in frequency. Social habits, transportation system characteristics, density patterns, existing transportation facilities, and local governments all affect the patterns of growth in intercity areas. Proper planning can influence, to a greater or lesser extent, all of these factors and thus create the type of development deemed most desirable for the region. Most plans now being developed center around grids of freeways, with or without the emphasis on creating nodes of activity or metrotowns, that are planned for the Baltimore-Washington area.