An initiative of Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) and the City Planning Program continues to gain national and international recognition. The July 2006 edition of Urban Land, the magazine of the Urban Land Institute, features a three-page story, "Think Globally, Act Megaregionally," about Georgia Tech's work on the idea of "MegaRegions."

Between now and the year 2050, more than half of the nation's population growth, and perhaps as much as two-thirds of its economic growth, will occur in several MegaRegions. These MegaRegions are extended networks of metropolitan centers and the surrounding areas. They often cross county and state lines and are linked by transportation and communication networks. The southeastern United States has been identified as an emerging MegaRegion, where recent and projected settlement patterns and infrastructure systems are enhancing important social, economic, and environmental links between the many parts of the region.

In January 2006, Georgia Tech hosted a one-day symposium in Atlanta to frame an agenda for the Southeastern MegaRegion, coined the Piedmont Atlantic Megalopolis (PAM) by researchers. The symposium, which was the focus of the Urban Land article, attracted representatives from private, public, academic, and non-profit organizations across six southern states, including United States Senator Johnny Isakson and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. This gathering, both informative and action-oriented, laid the framework for a region-wide agenda aimed at the creation of policies, infrastructure, resources, and regional cooperation to position PAM for success in the global economy.

The Urban Land article is yet another signal that MegaRegions are increasingly being recognized as major players in social, economic, and environmental policy and practice worldwide. The Urban Land Institute (ULI), which was founded in 1936, is a nonprofit research and education organization with more than 30,000 members across the globe. ULI is dedicated to providing land use and real estate practitioners with cutting edge research and guidance on the best use of land.