Sir Patrick Geddes was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner in the late 19th/early 20th century. He is known for his innovative thinking in fields like urban planning and sociology. Some of his key contributions include introducing the concepts of "region" and "conurbation" to architecture and planning. A conurbation refers to a region comprising cities and towns that have merged due to population growth and expansion. Geddes coined the term and provided examples like the Greater London area. He also developed theories around the relationships between a population ("folk") and their environment ("place") and means of work, which influenced his approach to regional and urban planning.