Spatial planning, strongly advocated by government and the profession, is intended to be more holistic, more strategic, more inclusive, more integrative and more attuned to sustainable development than previous approaches. In what the authors refer to as the New Spatial Planning, there is a fairly rapidly evolving maturity and sophistication in how strategies are developed and produced. Crucially, the authors argue that the reworked boundaries of spatial planning means that to understand it we need to look as much outside the formal system of practices of ‘planning’ as within it. Using a rich empirical resource base, this book takes a critical look at recent practices to see whether the new spatial planning is having the kinds of impacts its advocates would wish. Contributing to theoretical debates in planning, state restructuring and governance, it also outlines and critiques the contemporary practice of spatial planning. This book will have a place on the shelves of researchers and students interested in urban/regional studies, politics and planning studies.

The new EU member states have been facing a wide range of planning and urban development problems since the transition in 2004. Bringing together specially commissioned articles on each of the ten countries, this volume examines these problems and their r

Urban planning is a complex field of knowledge and practice. Through the decades, theoretical debate has formed an eclectic set of possible perspectives, without finding, in our opinion, a coherent paradigmatic framework which can adequately guide the interpretation and action in urban planning. The hypothesis of this book is that the attempts of founding an autonomous planning theory are inadequate if they do not explore two interconnected fields: architecture and public policies.The book critically reviews a selected set of current practices and theoretical founding works of modern and contemporary urban planning by highlighting the continuous search for the epistemic legitimization of a large variety of experiences. The distinctive contribution of this book is a documented critique to the eclecticism and abstraction of the main international trends in current planning theory. The dialogic relationship with the traditions of architecture and public policy is proposed here in order to critically review planning theory and practice. The outcome is the proposal of a paradigmatic framework that, in the authors’ opinion, can adequately guide reflections and actions. A pragmatic and interpretative heritage and the project-orientated approach are the basis of this new spatial planning paradigm.

Spatial planning, strongly advocated by government and the profession, is intended to be more holistic, more strategic, more inclusive, more integrative and more attuned to sustainable development than previous approaches. In what the authors refer to as the New Spatial Planning, there is a fairly rapidly evolving maturity and sophistication in how strategies are developed and produced. Crucially, the authors argue that the reworked boundaries of spatial planning means that to understand it we need to look as much outside the formal system of practices of 'planning' as within it. Using a rich empirical resource base, this book takes a critical look at recent practices to see whether the new spatial planning is having the kinds of impacts its advocates would wish. Contributing to theoretical debates in planning, state restructuring and governance, it also outlines and critiques the contemporary practice of spatial planning. This book will have a place on the shelves of researchers and students interested in urban/regional studies, politics and planning studies.

This book considers the major forces that have emerged to reshape planning following 2010, including national infrastructure project delivery, the Localism Act (2011) and neighbourhood planning. This period also saw the introduction of the replacement of regional plans by new strategic sub-regional approaches in combined local authorities for functional economic areas. All of this is set within the UN’s New Urban Agenda, Brexit, the changing programme for the EU post 2021 and the likely effects that these will have on UK planning practice. There is also a discussion on the evolving planning policies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the ways in which the UK nations are beginning to work together more closely and with Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man through the spatial planning group in the British–Irish Council. Although primarily focused on the UK, the text sets some of the policy discussions in a wider international context including agreements on the environment and the emerging alignment of governance and economies in newly recognised sub-regional spaces. It follows Effective Practice in Spatial Planning (2011), which addressed the developments in planning in the UK between 2004 and 2010, and discusses the major changes in all aspects of planning policy in the following period.

This book documents and analyses spatial planning in Ghana, providing a comprehensive and critical discussion of the evolving institutional and legal arrangements that have shaped and defined Ghana’s spatial planning system for more than seven decades; the contemporary policy instruments and mechanisms for articulating and implementing policies and proposals at multiple scales; and the formally established procedures for development management. It covers important themes in contemporary spatial planning discourse, including the evolving meaning, scope and purpose of spatial planning globally; the scales of spatial planning (i.e. national, regional, sub-regional and local); multi-level integration within spatial planning; public participation; the interface between urbanization, sustainable growth management and spatial planning; spatial planning and housing development; integrated spatial development and transportation planning; and spatial planning and the urban informal economy. Intended for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic researchers and practitioners/policy-makers in the multidisciplinary field of spatial planning, it appeals to readers seeking an international perspective on spatial planning systems and practices.

Spatial planning has a vital role to play in the move to a low carbon energy future and in adapting to climate change. To do this, spatial planning must develop and implement new approaches. Elizabeth Wilson and Jake Piper explore a wide range of issues in this comprehensive book on the relationship between our changing climate and spatial planning, and suggest ways of addressing the challenges by taking a longer-sighted approach to our preparation for the future. This text includes: an overview of what we know already about future climate change and its impacts, as we attempt both to adapt to these changes and to reduce the emissions which cause them the role of spatial planning in relation to climate change, offering some theoretical and political explanations for the challenges that planning faces in the coming decades a review of policy and legislation at international, EU and UK levels in regard to climate change, and the support this gives to the planning system case studies detailing what responses the UK and the Netherlands have made so far in light of the evidence ways to help new and existing urban developments to reduce energy use and to adapt to climate change, through strengthening the relationships between urban and rural areas to avoid water shortage, floods or loss of biodiversity. The authors take an evidence-based look at this hugely important topic, providing a well-illustrated text for spatial planning professionals, politicians and the interested public, as well as a useful reference for postgraduate planning, geography, urban studies, urban design and environmental studies students.