Spatial Planning in the Baltic States: Impacts of European Policies

Abstract

Baltic societies have been transformed rapidly since the beginning of the 1990s, whereas planning institutions and organizational cultures in the Baltic States have only changed rather incrementally despite various national and European pressures for reform. As a consequence, the extent of Europeanization of spatial planning has been limited in the Baltic region, and the effects of cohesion and structural policy measures have been quite modest. This paper focuses on these changes in spatial planning in the Baltic States and is divided into three main parts. The paper begins by describing the historical and cultural context of spatial development in the Baltic States. Second, it discusses processes of Europeanization of spatial planning in the specific context of the Baltic States, and third, it considers whether these processes may be leading to policy convergence in the region.

Acknowledgements

Most of the papers in this special issue were first presented at a conference, organized in honour of Professor Salme Nõmmik and hosted at the University of Tartu in 2010. This special issue is dedicated to Professor Nõmmik and her contribution to scholarship in the field of economic geography and spatial development policy.