Political Fragmentation, Municipal Incorporation and Annexation in a High Growth Urban Area

The Case of Charlotte, North Carolina

Abstract

The population of the Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan region has grown rapidly in recent decades. Charlotte was the second most rapidly growing city of over 100,000 in the nation in the 1990’s. Typically, metropolitan population growth is accompanied by significant increases in the number of municipal governments and a corresponding increase in political fragmentation. However, compared to rapidly growing areas in other parts of the nation in this century and the last, relatively few new municipal governments have been created in the Charlotte region. This paper explores the impact of state annexation and incorporation policy and historical, economic and cultural legacy on the development of the municipal landscape in the Charlotte Urban Region.

Results suggest that because municipal incorporation is difficult and annexation is relatively easy in North Carolina, annexation has been a major tool for municipalities to use in expanding and controlling political fragmentation. The authors also note that the economic and cultural history of the region, most critically, the late 19th and early 20th century expansion of the textile industry in the region, may have also been important factors in reducing fragmentation in the latter part of the 20th century.