The spatial planning regions (RPR) were constructed in the 1960s and 70s by the cantons and municipalities to deal with supra-municipal tasks – the significant settlement growth in these decades and the prospect of huge population growth meant that a tool such as this was needed.

Their task areas relate to the planning coordination of the supra-regional transport networks and the technical infrastructures of supply and waste disposal as well as – at least in the earlier years – determining land use by zone planning. The RPR are generally structured as municipal associations supervised by the cantons. They are mostly orientated towards a centre and functional connections were taken into account when they were defined. Some cultural and historic boundaries were also taken into consideration. The problem with this type of regionalisation is the different sizes of RPR depending on the part of the country, with some of them even crossing cantonal borders. The regions of the cantons of Aargau or Vaud are comparatively small for example, while those of Lucerne, St. Gallen and Valais are rather large.

After 1980, spatial planning regions became less important because the Swiss Federation significantly reduced their task subsidisation. They are also now in competition with a multitude of municipal associations with department-related tasks, such as waste water and transport associations.