Exploring controversies regarding planning and spatial development in practice

According to Van der Valk and Faludi (1997) a planning doctrine is mature if a responsible authority adopts it. In planning theory many attention has been paid to concepts that form a doctrine. The question how these concepts affect spatial development in practice is often treated as a black box. In times of collaborative development planning, implementation and plan making are interwoven and are collectively affecting spatial quality. In this light Albrechts (2006) has stressed the need for a ¿practicing theory¿. Controversies regarding planning and the spatial development in practice characterize this research field. What are the main controversies regarding planning and spatial development in practice? How are the activities of planners active in these two areas coupled and decoupled? Why are these activities decoupled? Why is there a need for recoupling and how can this recoupling take place? This paper focuses on practical manifestations of these controversies in planning processes. Case studies are carried out in metropolitan green areas in The Netherlands and Flanders. Central in these case studies are the way different parties and institutions are involved in making the step from concepts to changes in space.