A set of empirical equations relating channel shape to discharge, sediment load, and bank resistance. The theory proposes that dominant channel characteristics remain stable for a period of years and that any change in the hydrologic or sediment regime leads to a quantifiable channel response (such as erosion or deposition). Valentine and Haidera (2005) Water Manage. 158, 2 propose a modification to the Wallingford rational regime theory. See also Eaton and Millar (2004) Geomorph. 66, 1–2. Eaton and Church (2007) J. Geophys. Res. 112, F03025 find that classical hydraulic geometry represents only an approximation of the variation in channel forms.

urban regime theory

A theory that attempts to locate a phenomenon, such as a city, in its wider spatial, political, and economic context, arguing that growth and development results from groups of actors, working cooperatively together. See Mossberg and Stoker (2001) Urb. Affairs Rev. 36, 6, 810 on the development of urban regime theory.