Spatial planning systems refer to the methods and approaches used by the
public and private sector to influence the distribution of people and
activities in spaces of various scales. Spatial planning can be defined as the
coordination of practices and policies affecting spatial organization. Spatial
planning is synonymous with the practices of urban planning in the
United States but at larger scales and the term is often used in reference to
planning efforts in European countries. Discrete professional disciplines which
involve spatial planning include land use, urban, regional, transport and
environmental planning. Other related areas are also important, including
economic and community planning. Spatial planning takes place on local, regional,
national and inter-national levels and often results in the creation of a
spatial plan. A early definition of spatial planning
comes from the European Regional/Spatial Planning Charter, adopted in 1983 by the
European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning:
"Regional/spatial planning gives geographical expression to the economic,
social, cultural and ecological policies of society. It is at the same time a
scientific discipline, an administrative technique and a policy developed as an
interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach directed towards a balanced
regional development and the physical organisation of space according to an
overall strategy." Numerous planning systems exist around
the world. The form of planning largely diverges and co-evolves with societies
and their governance systems. Every country, and states within those
countries, have a unique planning systems that is made up by different
actors, different planning perspectives and a particular institutional
framework. Perspectives, actors and institutions change over time,
influencing both the form and the impact of spatial planning. Especially in
Northwestern Europe spatial planning has evolved greatly since the late 1950s.
Spatial planning systems in Europe Various compendia of spatial planning
systems can be found. Below is a table showing some of the main sources, the
countries covered and the date of publication.
European spatial planning In 1999, a document called the European
Spatial Development Perspective was signed by the ministers responsible for
regional planning in the EU member states. Although the ESDP has no binding
status, and the European Union has no formal authority for spatial planning,
the ESDP has influenced spatial planning policy in European regions and member
states, and placed the coordination of EU sectoral policies on the political
agenda. At the European level, the term
territorial cohesion is becoming more widely used and is for example mentioned
in the draft EU Treaty as a shared competency of the European Union; it is
also included in the Treaty of Lisbon. The term was defined in a "scoping
document" in Rotterdam in late 2004 and is being elaborated further using
empirical data from the ESPON programme in a document entitled "The Territorial
State and Perspectives of the European Union". At the minister's conference in
May 2007 in Leipzig, a political document called the "Territorial Agenda"
was signed to continue the process begun in Rotterdam, revised in May 2011 in
Godollo. See also
Architecture Comprehensive planning
European Spatial Development Perspective ESPRID
Geography ISOCARP - International Society of City
and Regional Planners Landscape architecture
Land use planning Regional planning
Principles of Intelligent Urbanism Spatial Citizenship
Unified settlement planning Urban planning
References Andreas Faludi, Bas Waterhout, The
Making of the European Spatial Development Perspective, London
Routledge 2002. ISBN 978-0-415-27264-3. Gerhard Larsson, Spatial Planning
Systems in Western Europe - An Overview, Delft Univ Press, ISBN
978-1-58603-656-0. Gerhard Larsson, Land management as
Public Policy, University Press of America, ISBN 978-0-7618-5248-3.
UNECE, Spatial Planning - Key Instrument for Development and Effective Governance
with Special Reference to Countries in Transition, Report ECE146, Geneva UNECE
2008. Richard H. Williams, European union
spatial policy and planning, London Chapman 1996. ISBN 978-1-85396-305-6.
External links CEMAT - European Conference of Ministers
responsible for Regional Planning EJSD - European Journal of Spatial
Development ESPON - European Observation Network on
Territorial Development and Cohesion Planum - The European Journal of
Planning VASAB - Baltic Sea Region Spatial
Planning Initiative VASAB