Spatial planning

The graphical scheme of the Detailed Urbanist Plan for a settlement within the Municipality of Aerodrom in the City of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.

Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales. Discrete professional disciplines which involve spatial planning include land use planning, urban planning, regional planning, transport planning and environmental planning. Other related areas are also important, including economic planning and community planning. Spatial planning takes place on local, regional, national and inter-national levels and often result in the creation of a spatial plan.

There are numerous definitions of spatial planning. One of the earliest definitions comes from the European Regional/Spatial Planning Charter (often called the 'Torremolinos Charter'), adopted in 1983 by the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT): "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. Especially in Northwestern Europe spatial planning has evolved greatly since the late 1950s.

Spatial planning systems in Europe

Various compendia of spatial planning systems in Europe can be found. Below is a table showing some of the main sources, the countries covered and the date of publication..

	COMmon MINdscapes – COMMIN	COST Action on Green Structures and Urban Planning – COST C11	European Spatial Planning Observation Network Project on Governance – ESPON 2.3.2	European Commission, DG-REGIO – EU Compendium	European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional/Spatial Planning – CEMAT	European Space and Territorial Integration Alternative – ESTIA	ISOCARP - International Society of City and Regional Planners – ISOCARP	Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport – MLIT	Legal Systems for Spatial Planning – LEXALP	Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution – RCEP	United Nations Economic Commission for Europe – UNECE	Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea – VASAB
Albania						2000
Armenia					2006						2000
Austria			2007	1997			2008		2008
Belarus	2007											2000
Belgium			2007	1997			2008
Bulgaria			2007		2003	2000	2008
Cyprus			2007
Czech Republic			2007				2008
Denmark	2007	2005	2007	1997			2008					2000
Estonia	2007		2007				2008					2000
Finland	2007	2005	2007	1997	2005		2008					2000
France		2005	2007	1997			2008	2007	2008	2000
Georgia											2003
Germany	2007	2005	2007	1997			2008	2007	2008	2000		2000
Greece			2007	1997		2000	2008
Hungary			2007			2000	2008
Ireland			2007	1997			2008			2000
Italy		2005	2007	1997			2008		2008
Latvia	2007		2007								1998	2000
Lithuania	2007		2007								1998	2000
Luxembourg			2007	1997	2006		2008
Macedonia						2000					2002
Malta			2007
Netherlands		2005	2007	1997			2008	2007		2000
Norway	2007	2005	2007				2008					2000
Poland	2007	2005	2007				2008					2000
Portugal			2007	1997	2004		2008
Romania			2007			2000					2001
Russian Federation	2007						2008					2000
Serbia						2000	2008				2007
Slovakia			2007				2008
Slovenia			2007		2003				2008		1997
Spain		2005	2007	1997			2008
Sweden	2007	2005	2007	1997			2008			2000		2000
Switzerland			2007				2008		2008
Turkey							2008
United Kingdom		2005	2007	1997			2008	2007		2000

European spatial planning

In 1999, a document called the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) 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 (Constitution) 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.

See also

• Architecture
• Comparative 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
• Urban planning

References

• Andreas Faludi, Bas Waterhout, The Making of the European Spatial Development Perspective, London Routledge 2002. ISBN 978-0415272643.
• Gerhard Larsson, Spatial Planning Systems in Western Europe - An Overview, Delft Univ Press (2006), ISBN 9781586036560.[1]
• Gerhard Larsson, Land management as Public Policy, University Press of America (2010), ISBN 9780761852483. [2]
• UNECE, Spatial Planning - Key Instrument for Development and Effective Governance with Special Reference to Countries in Transition, Report ECE/HBP/146, Geneva UNECE 2008.
• Richard H. Williams, European union spatial policy and planning, London Chapman 1996. ISBN 978-1853963056.

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