Towards a European spatial planning policy: Theoretical dilemmas and institutional implications (original) (raw)
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Introduction: historical institutionalist perspectives on European spatial planning
Planning Perspectives
In a context where European integration is put into question, under the weight of external (migration, safety issues, economic) and centrifugal forces (Brexit, growing Euroscepticism), European spatial planning has been somewhat sidelined in the debates on the European Union's goals, cohesion and future. This special issue aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of these dynamics by revisiting the history of European spatial planningfrom its origins, gradual institutionalisation to its current rolling back-by exploring it both at the European and the national level, stressing its difficulties and idiosyncrasies. The conceptual framework of historical institutionalism is used across the papers in an attempt to shed more light on this processes, through the analysis of critical junctures and path dependency of planning and cohesion agendas, transnational networks as well as changes to the national institutions and planning systems. This tightly woven collection of papers touches upon not only upon the underlying arguments for European cohesion, which are currently being called into question, but also the questions about the (rather bleak) future of European spatial planning in light of current discussions concerning democratic credentials and legitimacy of the EU project as a whole. In fact, the European spatial planning field can be considered as an 'EU microcosm', where the process of institutionalisation or unravelling of shared rules and concepts reflect the the broader trajectories and the state of the European integration.
The hidden face of European spatial planning: Innovations in governance
European Planning Studies, 2005
Presently, the 'informal' European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) is being duly applied. At the same time, European planners are still searching for a shared understanding of what European spatial planning actually means. Against the backdrop of current developments in European governance, it seems appropriate to explore various regional perspectives on this emergent phenomenon. In so doing, one needs to go beyond the most commonly known perspectives, though. One needs to also reveal the less obvious 'southern perspectives'. Under close scrutiny, they show themselves well capable of introducing some valuable new elements, and they are as equally useful as others in enriching the debate on European spatial planning and in deepening our understanding about current changes in planning practices in Europe.
Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 2014
As a governing process in which “European political space” is dissected and regulated, the EU’s nascent spatial planning opens up a number of empirical and conceptual challenges for research. Even if the ‘governmentalization of Europe’ and the associated mechanisms, tactics, instruments, vocabularies and technologies through which the power and rule of the EU are effected have been examined, the concept of governmentality offers a useful perspective to explicate European spatial planning. We analyse European spatial planning through the lens of governmentality and offer an ethnographic take on the issue of European spatial planning by problematizing the manifestations of the EU in spatial planning practices in northern Finland.
THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ISSUES OF ECONOMICS, 2021
Considering that the goal of the spatial development of the European Union is to ensure the sustainable development of European regions, strengthen democratic structures at the regional and municipal levels and increase competitiveness, the usefulness of spatial planning is justified. This will allow improving the placement of productive forces, resettlement schemes, highlighting the areas of the most important natural objects, taking into account economic specialization, the level of development, the nature of the use of natural resources and economic potentials, etc. An integrated approach to spatial planning is proposed, which provides for identifying the features of the supporting frame, zoning the territory taking into account social, economic and environmental characteristics, and optimizing the territorial structure. This will create conditions for overcoming structural changes in the spatial development of the region related to the need to regulate land use processes, the in...
Born in the cradle of social and economic cohesion Community principle twelve years ago, the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) has contributed to the institutional recognition of the territorial dimension of cohesion. Territorial cohesion is now included among the “Union's objectives” at Art. I-3 in the, although not ratified yet, new Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. The implementation of territorial cohesion policy is a matter of good EU territorial governance, an aim that the ESDP also embraces. ...
The Importance of Context and Comparison in the Study of European Spatial Planning
European Planning Studies, 2008
The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) was agreed in 1999 at Potsdam, Germany, as a non-binding framework intended to guide spatially significant policymaking at different spatial scales in order to achieve a more balanced and sustainable growth of the EU territory. This paper develops a conceptualization of the nature of transnational planning frameworks such as the ESDP and presents a framework for the investigation of the application of their policy orientations in the spatial planning systems of European states. It is argued that investigations of the application of transnational spatial development frameworks like the ESDP and the 'Territorial Agenda of the European Union' document adopted by EU member states in 2007, need to be sensitized to the diversity of territorial contexts in which these apply, and that a contextualized and comparative approach is therefore essential in evaluating their influence in Europe's varied territories. development policies and EU sectoral policies. Six forms of application were identified including the application of the ESDP's policy orientations in the spatial planning systems of the member states of the EU. This form of application is the focus of the present paper. Specifically, it was proposed that member states should "now take into account the policy aims and options of the ESDP in their national spatial planning systems in the way they see fit and inform the public of their experiences gained from European co-operation in spatial development" (CEC, 1999, p. 44). Member states were also called upon to "take into consideration the European dimension of spatial development in adjusting national spatial development policies, plans and reports" and it was suggested that "the requirement for a 'Europeanization of state, regional and urban planning' is increasingly evident" (CEC, 1999, p. 45). The commitment to applying the ESDP in member states was reaffirmed at a meeting of EU Ministers responsible for spatial planning and Urban/Regional policy at Tampere, Finland, in October 1999. The resulting ESDP Action Programme contained 12 actions including the monitoring the integration of ESDP policy options into national spatial planning (Ministers Responsible for Spatial Planning and Urban and Regional Policy 1999). In 2001, the Belgian EU Presidency followedup this action with a survey into "ESDP policy orientations in national spatial planning".
Теоретичні та прикладні питання економіки, 2021
Considering that the goal of the spatial development of the European Union is to ensure the sustainable development of European regions, strengthen democratic structures at the regional and municipal levels and increase competitiveness, the usefulness of spatial planning is justified. This will allow improving the placement of productive forces, resettlement schemes, highlighting the areas of the most important natural objects, taking into account economic specialization, the level of development, the nature of the use of natural resources and economic potentials, etc. An integrated approach to spatial planning is proposed, which provides for identifying the features of the supporting frame, zoning the territory taking into account social, economic and environmental characteristics, and optimizing the territorial structure. This will create conditions for overcoming structural changes in the spatial development of the region related to the need to regulate land use processes, the integration of various regions (industries, companies), the development of single-industry towns and rural areas, the optimization of transport corridors, and the stabilization of the environmental background. Attention is paid to the harmonious mutual development of ecological and economic systems, which is provided by the design of the architecture of the supporting and ecological frames. At the same time, the results of studies on the level of anthropogenic and technogenic load, maximum permissible standards for the use of natural resources (water bodies, land resources, air, etc.), as well as, the presence of pathogenic zones, should be taken into account. The implementation of the proposed approach requires the consolidation of the efforts of territorial communities at different levels, based on the principles of cooperation, integration and unification, which will consider the general development trends and specific characteristics of the territories. The main result will be the strengthening of the commonwealth, strengthening the solidarity of the participating countries in achieving strategic guidelines for the balanced development of the European Union and effectively countering modern challenges.
European spatial planning between competitiveness and territorial cohesion: shadows of neoliberalism
European Planning Studies, 2010
This paper analyses the use of the concept of territorial cohesion in policy documents produced by the European Union. It is an idea celebrated in community documents, such as cohesion reports, the Territorial Agenda of the European Union and the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion; after more than a decade of political debate, the concept is about to gain a legitimate institutional role, after being included in the Lisbon Treaty, and is among the competences that the EU shares with other member states. At first, territorial cohesion seems to oppose the logics of neo-liberalism by reinscribing welfare problems and policies in spatial terms. However, using the analytical framework of cultural critics, and intending cohesion to be a discourse carried on by a community of European scholars and policymakers, the research will discuss the conceptual relationship between competitiveness and territorial cohesion in European policies and narratives.