STATISTICAL DATA AND PROJECTIONS ON POPULATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND INCOME IN KANSAS, AS REPORTED IN 1966 BY THE KANSAS OFFICE OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, UNDERLINE THE FACT THAT KANSAS IS CHANGING FROM A LARGELY AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY TO A MANUFACTURING-CENTERED, URBAN-ORIENTED ECONOMY. HOWEVER, THE ANTICIPATED PATTERN OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IS STILL SOMEWHAT UNEVEN AND NOT ENTIRELY HEALTHLY. AN EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN COMPONENTS OF URBAN CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT--POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS, PHYSICAL FACILITIES, AND THE FLOW OF GOODS AND SERVICES--IN TERMS OF THE BASIC-NONBASIC CONCEPT OF THE URBAN ECONOMIC BASE SUGGESTS THAT BASIC SUPPORT INDUSTRIES SERVING THE POPULATION OUTSIDE A GIVEN URBAN AREA ARE VITAL TO THE ECONOMIC STABILITY OF THE TOWNS AND MEDIUM-SIZED URBAN CENTERS OF KANSAS. THUS, THE CONCEPT OF URBAN CONFEDERATIONS, AIDED BY ADEQUATE MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION AND COORDINATED EMPLOYMENT SERVICES, AS A MEANS OF PERSERVING AND STIMULATING DIVERSIFIED REGIONAL ECONOMIES MAY BE OF VALUE TO INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITIES FACING THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS CREATED BY DIMINISHING ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. (THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES THREE MAPS, 17 CHARTS, AND 11 REFERENCES.) (LY)