Behind the Big Box: understanding the planning-development dialectic of large distribution centres in Europe

In Europe, very large distribution centres (XXL DCs) are increasingly appearing on planning agendas due to their growing spatial footprint and environmental impacts. Although the emergence of XXL DCs has gained traction in academic research, empirical knowledge about the process that leads to their oft-debated location choice, geometry and...

Regional planning: an arena of interests, institutions and relations

This special issue approaches regional planning as a contested arena of strategic planning. With this view, we transcend the idea that regional planning is purely a matter of scale and approach the complexity of regional planning from three perspectives: interests, institutions and relations. The perspective of ‘interests’ reveals the various...

Adaptive capacity of the Pearl River Delta cities in the face of the growing flood risk: Institutions, ideas and interests

Although the cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China are amongst the world’s cities most exposed to flooding due to climate change, surprisingly little is done to address this problem. This article explores the barriers to the emergence of policies adapting to the growing flood risk in two PRD cities, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, underlining...

Bringing central regulation and local governance interaction together: The case of the Markermeer-IJmeer Natura 2000 area

This paper draws attention to a case in which Natura 2000 regulation, problematic ecological conditions, governance congestion and the aim to develop large urban projects are to go hand in hand in the soft space of the Markermeer-IJmeer area, a 30 by 25 km lake in the centre of the Netherlands. The key interest is how central regulation is...