The main objective of regional planning of a territorial region is to make land use activities, infrastructure, and growth of places more efficient across a larger area of ​​space than a single city or town. The related field of urban planning deals with specific city planning issues. Both concepts are related in the planning of a territorial region.

Although the term Regional Planning is almost universal in all English-speaking countries and their surrounding regions, the specific administrative characteristics vary widely. In North America, planning by territorial regions can cover more than one state, such as the organization: Regional Plan Association, or a larger set of networks and places. North American regional planning is likely to cover a much larger area than the UK Regional Assemblies; However, both share a regional objective.

The various regions give different uses to the land; protection of farmland, cities, industrial spaces, transportation centers and infrastructure, military bases, desert lands among others. Regional planning is the science that is responsible for the study of the efficient placement of infrastructure and the diversification of areas for the sustainable growth of a region. Advocates of spatial planning, such as a new urbanist named Peter Calthorpe, promote the cause of being able to address the regional environmental, social and economic issues that necessarily require the attention of regional planning.

A region in planning terms may be fully administrative or at least partially functional, and is likely to include a network of settlements and areas of various forms. In most European countries, regional and national plans are 'diversification of spaces' aimed at certain levels of development of specific cities and towns in order to support and manage the region based on specific needs, for example supporting or resisting polycentrism.

Specific interventions and solutions will depend entirely on the needs of each region in each country, but in general terms, territorial planning at a macro level will seek:

Resist deterioration on wet soil plains or along seismic faults. These areas can be used as parks or makeshift agricultural fields.