Territorial governance : scientific and policy debates across Europe (original) (raw)

Much of the policy analysis of spatial planning today focuses on governance or multi-level governance in the sense of tracing vertical and horizontal linkages and integration of relevant stakeholders (particularly from the bottom-up). Thus far, little attention has been paid to the more specific territorial dimensions of governance or how knowledge of territorial specificities and the territorial impacts of various courses of action are used in policyand decision-making. This paper presents the conceptual and practical implications of the ‘ESPON TANGO’ – project (Territorial Approaches for New Governance). To that end a framework of analysis was developed to systematically conceptualise, operationalise and explore territorial governance processes. Some of the main empirical findings from twelve case studies across Europe are synthesised along 20 components of territorial governance. These components are representative of the structural and process-oriented facets of territorial gove...