The Impact of European Public Contract Law on Networks of Governance: A Relational Approach

Abstract

Scholars increasingly stress the importance of relations rather than locations in planning. Consequently, planning research might not only focus on land use and land-use regulations, but also on the way relations between urban and regional actors are regulated. This paper reflects critically on the European directive on public contracts, which regulates specific relationships between contracting authorities and economic operators, and its potential impact on urban and regional planning. The paper concludes that further juridification of these relations by procurement directive may result in the relative isolation of the actors involved in governance, both private and public, and may decrease the significance of these relational networks.