The multi-level nature of spatial planning and territorial governance

Wil Zonneveld*, Dominic Stead

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeChapterScientificpeer-review

1 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Competence for planning usually rests with more than one level of government in a country which creates multi-scalar or multi-level governance for spatial planning. The majority of the 32 countries in the ESPON COMPASS study had three levels of government, though some have two or four. The distribution of competences differs and there is much change which often involves the abolition or creation of administrations. There are several trends underway: decentralisation or devolution of competences, for example, in Germany and Croatia; regionalisation where there is devolution to sub-national governments, for example, in the UK and in some ways Greece; and concurrent centralisation and decentralisation, for example, in Denmark and Lithuania. Most countries have some competence for national-level responsibilities for planning, even in federal states where the competent bodies are at sub-national level there is cooperation on some issues for the whole country. Spatial planning across functional regions or soft territorial cooperation areas is increasing, most commonly in metropolitan regions, where there are varied arrangements including the creation of metropolitan-level administrations, inter-municipal agreements and voluntary cooperation.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpatial Planning Systems in Europe
Subtitle of host publicationComparison and Trajectories
EditorsVincent Nadin, Giancarlo Cotella, Peter Schmitt
Place of PublicationCheltenham/Northampton, MA
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
Chapter4
Pages87-106
Number of pages20
ISBN (Electronic)9781839106255
ISBN (Print)9781839106248
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Publication series

NameElgar Studies in Planning Theory, Policy and Practice
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Multi-level governance
  • Planning competences
  • Centralisation
  • Decentralisation
  • Devolution

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The multi-level nature of spatial planning and territorial governance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this