Introduction: historical institutionalist perspectives on European spatial planning

ABSTRACT

In a context where European integration is put into question, under the weight of external (migration, safety issues, economic) and centrifugal forces (Brexit, growing Euroscepticism), European spatial planning has been somewhat sidelined in the debates on the European Union’s goals, cohesion and future. This special issue aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of these dynamics by revisiting the history of European spatial planning – from its origins, gradual institutionalization to its current rolling back – by exploring it both at the European and the national level, stressing its difficulties and idiosyncrasies.

The conceptual framework of historical institutionalism is used across the papers in an attempt to shed more light on this processes, through the analysis of critical junctures and path dependency of planning and cohesion agendas, transnational networks as well as changes to the national institutions and planning systems.

This tightly woven collection of papers touches upon not only the underlying arguments for European cohesion, but also the questions about the future of European spatial planning as an ‘EU microcosm’ in light of current discussions concerning democratic credentials and legitimacy of the EU project as a whole.     

CRONWE: first attempts to institutionalize European spatial planning

ABSTRACT

This paper is about a relatively unknown north-west European organization of spatial planning: the (standing) Conference for Spatial Planning in North-Western Europe. The founders of CRONWE tried to create a European spatial planning approach that could influence spatial development in the early years of European integration as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and later the European Economic Community (EEC) were created. Spatial development, as a topic to be addressed, never reached the negotiation tables though, and CRONWE was created as a permanent platform for discussion with the obvious hope that gradually ‘Europe’ would recognize the relevance and even necessity of European spatial planning. In this paper we use a number of basic concepts of the historical institutionalist approach towards planning research; in particular institutionalization, critical junctures, and path dependency. We apply these concepts to analyse and evaluate the four decades that CRONWE existed. We are particularly interested in assessing why the CRONWE planning agenda remained marginal in the European integration process.     

国土空间规划体系的海洋管理及规划发展研究

海洋空间规划作为一种基于生态系统的多用途海洋管理方法和技术手段,也是解决现代社会经济发展中人类行为活动与海洋生态环境保护之间冲突的有效工具。以国土空间规划体系改革和自然资源统一管理为背景,讨论了全要素空间规划体系下的陆海统筹要求,同时对国内外海洋管理及规划研究成果进行综述分析,并结合深圳市海岸带规划编制内容总结了陆海一体化的海洋管理和空间规划优秀经验,从整合海洋空间规划体系、搭建综合管理平台、健全实施监管机制等方面提出了海洋规划管理的框架思路,对未来陆海统筹的海洋空间规划做出发展构想。     

Taking path dependence seriously: an historical institutionalist research agenda in planning history

This paper outlines an historical institutionalist (HI) research agenda for planning history. HI approaches to the understanding of institutions, path dependence, positive feedback effects in public policy, and patterned processes of institutional change offer a robust theoretical framework and a valuable set of conceptual and analytic tools for the analysis of continuity and change in public policy. Yet, to date, there has been no systematic effort to incorporate historical institutionalism into planning history research. The body of the paper proposes planning history relevant definitions of institutions, path dependence, critical junctures, and incremental change processes, outlines recent HI literature applying and extending these concepts, and frames a number of research questions for planning history that these approaches suggest. A concluding section explores the potential application and leverage of HI approaches to the study of planning history and international comparative planning studies and outlines a research agenda.     

基础研究视角下的国土空间规划创新 ——区域规划课程教学思考

随着中国的城市化进程加快,区域发展面临的机遇促使城乡规划学科中区域规划课程教育面临挑战,目前,区域规划的可持续发展以及综合性国土空间规划的创新发展,迫切需要借助基础研究及其创新成果的推进。从理论、技术和实践三个层面,简要分析了相关基础研究发展对区域规划的显著促进作用。进一步提出,在我国新时代发展的关键阶段,一方面区域规划必须主动与相关基础研究的创新与重大突破相结合,从而有力推动我国区域规划的转型和升级;另一方面区域规划必须主动与国土空间规划体系相融合,根据不同层次国土空间规划发展对区域规划及其课程教学的新需求,从基础研究创新视角,提出区域规划课程教学实践创新的理念和路径,从而为国土空间规划提供不断深化创新的人才准备和理论准备,促进国土空间规划实践的可持续发展。     

Institutionalizing EU strategic spatial planning into domestic planning systems: trajectories of change in Italy and England

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes approaching the emergence and evolution of the Europeanization of national planning using conceptual frameworks from historical institutionalism in order to shed light on the mechanisms and trajectories of domestic change arising from the influence of EU strategic planning. It seeks in particular to examine Europeanization in terms of the extent to which EU spatial planning has become a driving force for institutional changes in very different national planning systems. Returning to the changes that occurred in the Italian and English planning systems in the last two decades, the author provides insight into the attempts to insert and transpose EU spatial planning concepts and instruments into domestic systems, dealing with path dependency and European influence. By reading these processes from a historical institutionalist perspective, the paper aims to enhance understanding of the relative influence of European spatial planning on national planning systems, identifying mechanisms and trajectories of domestic change in different planning systems. Key findings concern the diverse modes and degree of institutionalization of EU strategic spatial planning, examining tendencies to replace the status quo through displacements in England and to progress through a path-dependent trajectory in Italy.     

国土空间规划背景下城乡规划专业本科课程体系优化探索——以河北建筑工程学院为例

国土空间规划的推进对学科交叉融合与专业人才培养提出了新要求,城乡规划学科在新时代背景下面临重大机遇和挑战。从国土空间规划切入,论述了城乡规划学科的重要性和人才培养的新要求,剖析了城乡规划本科教育需要解决的四个主要矛盾——传统人才培养模式与创新教学方式、理论类课程与设计实践类课程、旧知识体系与新规划体系、单一学科框架与交叉学科知识,从而得出了城乡规划学科亟待进行人才培养模式转型和课程体系优化的结论。根据新时代城乡规划专业人才培养需求,河北建筑工程学院及时调整培养方案,确定了兼具实践思维、理论思维、逻辑思维和运算思维的复合型高素质人才培养模式,从理清课程体系脉络、增设学科交叉类课程、促进理论和实践的融合三个方面对专业教育课程体系进行了重构。学校依托新的培养方案与课程体系进行了教学改革,取得了良好的教学效果,提升了专业人才培养水平。     

Territorial Cohesion Discourses: Hegemonic Strategic Concepts in European Spatial Planning

The paper ¹ 1. The elaboration of this paper was supported by the European Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no 217157 (Social Polis). Further information on www.socialpolis.eu. reflects on the EU objective of territorial cohesion, exploring its role as a catalytic concept around which several (spatial and non-spatial) discourses and policy practices have been generated in European Spatial Planning. The assumption is that these discourses act as cultural constructions which define the strategic selectivity of EU institutions and strategically orientate the selective calculation of stakeholders' behaviour and their policy-making activities. The paper further explores the contents of spatial planning discourses related to the territorial cohesion objective analysing the EU official literature and highlighting general trends and main focuses. It provides an interpretative framework based on four categories: “principles”, “territorial dimensions”, “strategic policy options”, and “governance aspects”.     

Reconceptualising territoriality and spatial planning: insights from the sea

The concept of territoriality and its relationship to the focus and substance of spatial planning is the subject of much interest at the present time and this paper seeks to contribute to the debate by stepping into the sea. The first part of the paper establishes a framework for considering the spatial planning implications of changing conceptions of territoriality, outlining key sources of territorial innovation and their implications in terms of the development of new units and styles of governance, new challenges for planning practice, and the potential for feedback informing the development of planning theory. The application of the framework is then illustrated in the second part of the paper with reference to the emerging field of maritime spatial planning and in particular to the pioneering work that is being undertaken in Europe. This work is testing established notions of territoriality by highlighting the strong and growing connections between the land and the sea. Here some of the key implications for future spatial planning practice are identified. These indicate that there is a growing recognition of the need for innovation in the territorial units of governance in maritime regions and in the themes, processes and methods of spatial planning in these areas. The paper concludes with some observations on the implications of these findings for the theory of spatial planning.     

The development of strategic spatial planning in Central and Eastern Europe: between path dependence,European influence,and domestic politics

ABSTRACT

Focusing on three of the Central and Eastern European countries – Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary – the paper investigates the evolution of spatial planning systems and the introduction of strategic planning practices from the beginning of the post-communist transition in the early 1990s to the present. It sheds new light on this issue by applying the conceptual lens of historical institutionalism to explain this process and elucidate the role of the accession to the European Union (EU) as a catalyst for change. In particular, the paper identifies and analyses the critical junctures at which path dependencies emerged and later constrained the capacity of the regional and local actors to adjust to the EU Cohesion Policy framework and engage in strategic planning as part of it.     

A turning point in the development of European spatial planning? The ‘Territorial Agenda of the European Union’ and the ‘First Action Programme’

The European Union has always had a territorial agenda, albeit implicit. Existing spatial planning systems in Europe, in particular French aménagement du territoire, have shaped the thinking about how to tackle it more systematically, lately under the flag of an EU territorial cohesion policy. Drawing on work by the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON), the member states collectively have produced an ‘evidence-based’ document, ‘The territorial state and perspectives of the European Union’. This forms the basis of a political document entitled the ‘Territorial Agenda of the European Union: Towards a more competitive and sustainable Europe of diverse regions’. The subsequent First Action Programme came at a time when it appeared that the Treaty of Lisbon would make EU territorial cohesion policy official. This paper gives an account of the process, pointing out that a turning point has been reached, in that the member states have come to accept the need for EU territorial cohesion policy. Section 1 sets out the theoretical framework and the research approach. Section 2 sets the scene as regards the EU and it institutions. Section 3 looks at spatial planning systems in Europe and, in particular—since it has been instrumental in formulating EU regional and territorial cohesion policy—French aménagement du territoire. Section 4 identifies the implicit EU territorial agenda and how this has been articulated further by the member states formulating the ESDP. Section 5 gives an account of the fledgling EU territorial cohesion policy. Section 6 focuses on the member state initiative to produce the ‘evidence-based’ document, ‘The territorial state and perspectives of the European Union’, which forms the basis for the Territorial Agenda. As a background to this, the section discusses ESPON, which provided the research base for this undertaking. Sections 7 to 9 are about the Territorial Agenda process as such, particularly its making, the substantive policies and the institutional measures proposed therein, and the First Action Programme adopted in the wake of the Territorial Agenda. Section 10 identifies challenges ahead, followed by the final section, which explores issues whose resolution is not immediately in sight.     

青岛城市规划与空间结构转型

通过回顾青岛市城市规划史,对青岛城市规划与城市发展以及城市空间结构进行了分析,探析了青岛市城市空间结构的未来发展构想,以期把青岛建成更有活力,更有吸引力和竞争力的城市之一.     

Reforming spatial planning in anglophone Caribbean countries

Spatial planning in the anglophone Caribbean has lost its appeal having failed to deliver on its promises. Unsuccessful master plans, approval delays, numerous appeals and weak enforcement of regulations result from tensions generated by planning, democracy and capitalism practices. Additionally, regulatory and legislative reforms are insufficient to yield improvements, and therefore politicians, the public and investors do not hold planning in high esteem. This paper first provides an analysis of the drivers of a dysfunctional planning system and then offers a conceptual framework consisting of a blend of market, regulatory and behavioural change instruments along with new technologies that present an opportunity to craft planning systems in the anglophone Caribbean into becoming more innovative and responsive to citizens’ needs. Empirical evidence is drawn from Trinidad.     

现代城市滨水区域空间规划探讨

以现如今城市滨水景观对城市景观形态具有的重要性为背景,介绍了城市滨水区的特征,空间整合和景观设计原则,从滨水建筑布局、滨水建筑控制、水岸线设计、生态可持续延续等方面进行探讨,以期对城市滨河空间规划提供借鉴。     

现代城市市政广场空间环境规划研究

将城市市政广场空间环境作为研究对象,对其建设现状问题进行了解析,从社会环境和城市整体和谐发展的角度提出了市政广场空间环境规划的方法,以为日后城市市政广场空间环境全息化设计提供参考。     

New challenges in the field of spatial planning: landscapes

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) highlights the landscape as an holistic concept, which is important for individual and social well being and for quality of life. Landscape questions tend today to fall between the responsibilities of different sectors of society. The implications of the Convention for giving 'landscape' a higher status in spatial planning are discussed. Important challenges for planning that need to be focused from a landscape approach are discussed: the growing urbanization; the development and new roles of the urban fringe areas; new infrastructure landscapes; the mental landscapes of tomorrow; an holistic approach to landscape ecological planning and environmental policies and the need for co-ordination of European planning issues that concern landscapes. Planning for good landscape qualities is not a new issue; many landscape architects and landscape planners have worked in the spirit of the ELC for decades. The importance of educating landscape architects and planners with an holistic approach is particularly addressed. Efforts for a more integrated landscape education, such as the European network LE:NOTRE, already exist and contribute to the implementation of the ELC.     

New challenges in the field of spatial planning: landscapes

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) highlights the landscape as an holistic concept, which is important for individual and social well being and for quality of life. Landscape questions tend today to fall between the responsibilities of different sectors of society. The implications of the Convention for giving ‘landscape’ a higher status in spatial planning are discussed. Important challenges for planning that need to be focused from a landscape approach are discussed: the growing urbanization; the development and new roles of the urban fringe areas; new infrastructure landscapes; the mental landscapes of tomorrow; an holistic approach to landscape ecological planning and environmental policies and the need for co‐ordination of European planning issues that concern landscapes. Planning for good landscape qualities is not a new issue; many landscape architects and landscape planners have worked in the spirit of the ELC for decades. The importance of educating landscape architects and planners with an holistic approach is particularly addressed. Efforts for a more integrated landscape education, such as the European network LE:NOTRE, already exist and contribute to the implementation of the ELC.     

我国低碳生态城市空间规划的进展与启示

通过总结扣梳理上海市崇明陈家镇生态社区和虹桥商务核心区低碳生态城市的目标分解、空间规划、控制与引导性要素和管理体系与机制等方面的规划建设实践,以期对我国低碳生态城市规划理念、低碳生态城市规划技术、低碳生态城市规划控制以及低碳生态城市规划管理方面起到启示和借鉴作用。     

谈城市居住空间分异现状及其规划调节思路

从城市居住空间分异现状出发,在分析城市居住空间分异形成机制和可能产生负面效应的基础上,从城市规划视角讨论了如何通过合理规划,调节城市居住空间分异的问题,为进一步科学规划、合理布局、缓解分异、构建和谐居住格局提供了一定的思路。     

Urban growth and strategic spatial planning in Johannesburg,South Africa

The article examines the way strategic spatial planning in the City of Johannesburg has attempted to reshape existing and emerging spatial patterns of a divided sprawling city, focusing particularly on current initiatives to link spatial planning and infrastructure development through the growth management strategy. The strategy has been well institutionalised in the municipality, with strong political support and links to budgets. New public transport systems are being introduced, linked to spatial plans, although some of these developments have been contested. While the property industry is responding positively to some aspects of planning, moving towards greater spatial equity remains challenging. The planning-infrastructure link seems to be strengthening planning, but it is a demanding approach which requires a very different form of planning than the traditional master planning.