Spatial governance and planning systems in the public control of spatial development: a European typology

ABSTRACT

Although the functions of spatial governance and planning systems are generalizable, 30 years of comparative studies, especially in Europe, have shown the heterogeneity characterising these ‘institutional technologies’. This contribution builds on the materials of the recently concluded ESPON COMPASS research project to propose a European typology on the capacity of public authorities to control spatial development, a crucial aspect for the life of entire cities, regions and countries. Based on the opinions expressed by respective national experts, the systems of 39 countries (28 EU and 11 non-EU) are compared in relation to the mechanisms to allocate land use and spatial development rights as well as to the prevalence of the state vs. the market in guiding the development decisions. As a result, the European systems are placed on an X-Y diagram, which makes it possible to cluster them in consistent types that raise new comparative observations and general findings. In summary, the capacity for public control of spatial development looks variegated in Europe, although limited overall. Even if the power relations between state and market established in each institutional context are certainly influential, the models adopted for allocating spatial development rights also play a role in determining the observed trends.

KEYWORDS:

• Spatial governance
• spatial planning
• spatial development
• systems
• public control
• Europe

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the partners of the ESPON COMPASS research project, and particularly to the Delft University of Technology as the lead partner. The authors would also like to thank Donato Casavola for his contribution to the analysis of the questionnaires during his Master thesis work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In addition to the 28 EU member states, the research was extended to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.

2 The COMPASS research team has identified an academic expert on the subject in each of the 39 countries analysed. The list of experts has been verified and approved by the heads of the ESPON programme (so-called Project Support Team). To answer the questionnaires, each expert also had to interview at least three competent actors from the academic world or public administration in the reference country. For the complete list of institutions involved, see: ESPON, 2018b.