graphically "fixed." Their redefinition
would require constitutional change and
very substantial citizen support. Since
the county in Maryland is deeply rooted
in the fabric of government, history, and
tradition, it is generally felt that major
changes in county boundaries do not
constitute a ready and feasible solution
to the many problems created by the
fact that, in the metropolitan areas par-
ticularly, the total urban community is
more often divided than defined by
county boundaries. For this reason,
solutions to urban problems in metro-
politan areas most often focus on alter-
native approaches: the creation of new
local governmental units, embracing
two or more existing counties; and the
development of intergovernmental co-
operation and coordination techniques.
Several types of multicounty govern-
mental units already exist in Maryland.
None, however, are fully-defined gov-
ernments. A new type of unit, the
regional government, is today being
given serious consideration. Such units,
because they would be governed by
directly-elected officials, would consti-
tute a third level of local government in
the State. This approach to providing
for the governmental and service needs
of area-wide urban communities is re-
garded by Some as a direct and severe
challenge to existing local governments.
It is regarded by others as a direct and
logical extension of the principal orig-
inally underlying municipal incorpora-
tion: the recognition of an emerging
community and its governmental needs.
A major alternative to the regional
government approach is that of the area-
wide authority, which could be created
by an act of the legislature and given
responsibility for one or more urban
services. The area-wide authority differs
from the intra-county authority, as dis-
254
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cussed above, only in the size of its
geographical base. At any level, the
authority's primary characteristics are
those of its corporate, rather than gov-
ernmental, nature, and its conduct of
one or a few services, rather than a
broad spectrum of functions and pro-
grams.
The regional or metropolitan area
government approach has not, to date,
been widely adopted among the states
primarily because a majority of the
states have not previously recognized
the county as a major urban unit, as it
has been recognized in Maryland. For
this reason, primary emphasis is ordi-
narily given to problems of county-
municipal relationships and to urban
county development, rather than to
regional development.
The regional approach has received
considerable attention in recent years in
England. In October, 1960, a Royal
commission in London recommended
that: "For local government purposes
in this area there should be constituted
a number of Greater London Boroughs
and a Council for Greater London."
The commission also recommended that
"The Boroughs should be the primary
units of local government and should
perform all functions except those which
can only be effectively performed over
the wider area of Greater London. The
needs of the wider area will make it
necessary for concurrent or supplemen-
tary powers to be conferred on the Coun-
cil for Greater London in relation to
some aspects of environmental health
and housing."6 The London govern-
ment, in a white paper issued in Novem-
ber, 1961, concluded that "the Commis-
6 royal commission on local govern-
ment in greater london, report 1957-60,
at 254 (1960).
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