Traditional regional planning follows the spatial logic of layout including node,corridor,and network.Since the turn of the 21st cen-tury,a series of integrated spatial spaces,such as metropolitan area,cross-border adjoining area,and interregional cooperation emerged to be the main forms of innovation space.The Yangtze River Delta(YRD)region hosts the world's most dynamic and diversified experi-ments of regional cooperation.Besides the general introduction of YRD region's innovative practices,this article identifies a new form of spatial innovation for regional cooperation,namely,strategic zone.It argues that the evolution of regional planning methodology does not well-match with the evolution of spatial innovation practices on regional scale.