Whether spatial planning systems are equipped to cope with contemporary regional and urban challenges is strongly dependent on their capacity to promote integration between policy sectors, to respond adaptively to changing societal and political conditions, and to involve and engage citizens in decision-making processes. This paper examines and compares how these capacities have evolved in European countries since the start of the 21st century. The findings indicate that many countries have made reforms to spatial planning with significant implications for their capacity to promote integrated, adaptive and collective planning decisions.@en

WaVE stands for Water-linked heritage Valorization by developing an Ecosystemic approach. This Interreg Europe project brought together five European locations that have in common a rich history of cultural heritage in which water plays an important role. WaVE’s main goal was to exchange knowledge and insight across those territories to promote integrated adaptive reuses of water-linked cultural heritage sites. The approach used during the project integrated water-linked heritage valorisation with ecosystemic change for sustainable regional and urban futures. The ecosystemic approach advocated by WaVE entails considering water-linked heritage in a holistic way, connecting the tangible, intangible, and natural heritage values and harnessing its power as a catalyst for integrated, place-based, and participatory strategies promoting sustainability and addressing the wider socio-economic and environmental challenges faced by cities and regions. This document presents five key messages formulated on the basis of the actions developed by the partners during the project, combined with the observation of the knowledge transfer processes that led to the elaboration of the action plans, and the insights from the debates during the project events. It provides an overview of the state of play in heritage valorisation policies across the WaVE’s five locations and trends therein while summarising the changes in each of them towards an ecosystemic approach to water-linked heritage. The document concludes with a reflection on the challenges and outlook for the partners and lessons from WaVE in the wider European perspective. @en

EU Cohesion Policy has arguably the most tangible impact on the citizens’ environment and livelihoods and can potentially boost their attachment to the European project. Beyond the cross-national transactionalist hypothesis, Cohesion Policy spending has a local impact and may affect the lives of citizens who do not benefit directly from cross-national transactions, like education, work, investment and travel in other European countries. One could thus expect that Cohesion Policy has a significant positive impact on the ways in which citizens perceive the EU. But what happens when a country is a net contributor to the EU’s budget receiving a relatively small amount of Cohesion Policy funding, the bulk of it being invested in poorer European territories? Building on the cases of two Dutch regions–Flevoland and Limburg–this paper investigates the extent to which the citizens are aware of Cohesion Policy interventions and how the features of communication on and implementation of Cohesion Policy affect this awareness.@en

The objective of the COMPASS project was to provide an authoritative comparative report on changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems in Europe from 2000 to 2016. This Final Report presents the main findings, conclusions and policy recommendations. The COMPASS project compares territorial governance and spatial planning in 32 European countries (the 28 EU member states plus four ESPON partner countries). COMPASS differs from previous studies in that the accent is not on a snapshot comparison of national systems, but on identifying trends in reforms from 2000 to 2016. It also seeks to give reasons for these changes with particular reference to EU directives and policies, and to identify good practices for the cross-fertilisation of spatial development policies with EU Cohesion Policy. The research is based on expert knowledge with reference wherever possible to authoritative sources. Experts with in-depth experience of each national system were appointed to contribute to the study. The research design involved primarily collection of data from the 32 countries through questionnaires and five in-depth case studies of the interaction of EU Cohesion Policy and other sectoral policies with spatial planning and territorial governance.@en

Three critical facets of spatial planning are central to defining its character and performance in shaping spatial development: policy integration, the adaptability of plans, and engagement of citizens. This chapter reports on what was learned about general trends in Europe since 2000 for each of these facets drawing on two projects under the name ESPON COMPASS. We briefly introduce integration, adaptability and engagement, and what is known about trends with reference to key sources and examples. The findings complement evidence presented in other parts of this book, especially Chapters 6 and 9. This chapter stands back from much of the detail elsewhere in the book and give a broad and generic assessment based on expert evaluations. The picture is one of substantial reform of planning systems which seek to strengthen integration, enable adaptation of plans to address uncertainty, and engage citizens more deeply in the process.@en

High-tech development has been broadly accepted as a prominent matter of regional development policies and plans at the global level. Strategies to enhance it have evident implications for spatial planning policies, plans and visions. Consequently, careful attention should be paid to the role that spatial planning policies play in the national and regional efforts to advance high-tech development in a particular place. This study addresses the relationship between the spatial planning system and high-tech development, searching to explain the spatial implications resulting from this relationship. It approaches the topic by comparing high-tech development experiences in the Netherlands and Taiwan from an institutional perspective. Although both countries have used a range of spatial strategies for economic growth through high-tech development, the results show that their different institutional settings, power relations between different levels of government and conceptions of science park have led to the implementation of two very distinct spatial strategies, shaping different spatial patterns of high-tech development clustering in these two regions. The findings demonstrate the potential of the institutional approach to study international planning issues, and contribute to theories of high-tech development and spatial planning.@en

Editorial@en

Santiago de Compostela is well-known for its historic core of exceptional quality, a World Heritage Site. Due to its mild climate, its large amount of green areas, and its compact urban pattern with mixed functions, it has a low residential energy consumption, but not in its historic core, in which monumental buildings of different ages combine with residences in a pedestrianised urban environment. The European 20-20-20 targets present big challenges to historic areas such as Santiago. The present study assesses Santiago’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of urban planning and energy efficiency, and explores what local planning can do for the adaptation of the historic centre to energy-efficiency considerations. The findings show that local plans have not paid attention to environmental issues, and only recently is local planning involved with such considerations. They also suggest a limited commitment of the local authorities to energy efficiency goals, and serious lack of knowledge about the actual energy situation. A proactive role of the local government towards energy efficiency requires the commitment of all stakeholders. The presence of El Consorcio, gathering the most important local stakeholders, and its successful past experience on urban regeneration, suggests positive outcomes if the city is willing to change its passive role.@en

The objective of this case study is to investigate EU Cohesion policy performance and communication and the impact on citizens’ attitudes to the EU in Limburg, the Netherlands. The case study also contextualises comparative COHESIFY research findings and provides more in-depth insights into the performance and communication of Cohesion policy. The selection criteria for the Dutch case studies included Cohesion policy eligibility and financial intensity, programme types, governance system, European identity (also related to the specific geographical features and experience of cross-border cooperation), and Cohesion policy implementation setting and performance.@en

The objective of this case study is to investigate EU Cohesion policy performance and communication and the impact on citizens’ attitudes to the EU in Limburg, the Netherlands. The case study also contextualises comparative COHESIFY research findings and provides more in-depth insights into the performance and communication of Cohesion policy. The selection criteria for the Dutch case studies included Cohesion policy eligibility and financial intensity, programme types, governance system, European identity (also related to the specific geographical features and experience of cross-border cooperation), and Cohesion policy implementation setting and performance.@en

Cohesion Policy being the EU’s policy, bringing investment funds to European regions, has arguably the most tangible impacts on the citizens’ environment and livelihoods. One could thus expect that it has a significant positive impact on the ways in which citizens perceive the EU. But does it? How does the regional context affect this linkage between the use of European funding for regional development and the identification with the EU? This paper brings an element of response to this question through study of two Dutch regions -Flevoland and Limburg - conducted as part of the Horizon 2020 COHESIFY project (Grant Agreement no 693427). The first used to be a substantial receiver of Structural Funds, but today finds itself marginalised in the stream of EU funding, while the latter is at the heart of a cross-border area with deeply embedded cooperation long-supported by Cohesion Policy. Although citizens in both regions show attachment to the EU, the perception of how the EU works tends to be negative. To what extent are those views related to the ways in which EU Cohesion Policy has been implemented in those regions? Drawing on interviews with the key policy stakeholders, surveys and focus groups with citizens, the paper explores this question and sheds light on the capacity of Cohesion Policy to mobilise positive European identification from the perspective of a country that is a net contributor to EU budget.@en

Cohesion Policy being the EU’s policy, bringing investment funds to European regions, has arguably the most tangible impacts on the citizens’ environment and livelihoods. One could thus expect that it has a significant positive impact on the ways in which citizens perceive the EU. But does it? How does the regional context affect this linkage between the use of European funding for regional development and the identification with the EU? This paper brings an element of response to this question through study of two Dutch regions -Flevoland and Limburg - conducted as part of the Horizon 2020 COHESIFY project (Grant Agreement no 693427). The first used to be a substantial receiver of Structural Funds, but today finds itself marginalised in the stream of EU funding, while the latter is at the heart of a cross-border area with deeply embedded cooperation long-supported by Cohesion Policy. Although citizens in both regions show attachment to the EU, the perception of how the EU works tends to be negative. To what extent are those views related to the ways in which EU Cohesion Policy has been implemented in those regions? Drawing on interviews with the key policy stakeholders, surveys and focus groups with citizens, the paper explores this question and sheds light on the capacity of Cohesion Policy to mobilise positive European identification from the perspective of a country that is a net contributor to EU budget.@en

Since the 2000s, Lima city shows important changes in its socio-spatial structure, decreasing the long-established opposition between the centre and the periphery, developing a more complex arrangement. Sustained national economic growth has allowed better socio-economic conditions in different areas of the city. However, high inequality still remains in the ways of production of urban space, which affects residential segregation. To identify possible changes in the segregation patterns of Metropolitan Lima, this study focuses on the spatial patterns of occupational groups, examining their causes and relation with income inequality. The analysis is based on the 1993 and 2007 census data, measuring residential segregation by the Dissimilarity Index, comparing with the Diversity Index. The results confirm trends towards increased segregation between occupational groups. Top occupational groups are concentrated in central areas, expanding into adjacent districts. Bottom occupational groups are over-represented in distant neighbourhoods. Inbetween, a new, more mixed, transitional zone has emerged in upgraded formerly low-income neighbourhoods. Areas of lower occupational diversity coincide with extreme income values, forming spaces of greater segregation. In the metropolitan centre–periphery pattern, the centre has expanded, while the periphery has been shifted to outer peripheral rings.@en

Ciudad Guayana was born as an industrial new town in the early 1960s, as an ambitious national effort to stimulate the regional development of Venezuela. Its planning was the fruit of a unique partnership between the Venezuelan development agency (CVG) and the Joint Center for Urban Studies from Harvard University and the MIT. Looking for answers to the rapid urbanization issues, the academic planners were willing to test the latest planning and design approaches on the field, implementing several experimental projects. Ciudad Guayana became a useful urban laboratory that provided important urban lessons. Based on literature research, archival research at MIT and Harvard, and interviews with planners working on both teams, this paper presents how the two teams approached, debated and clashed about four significant challenges of building the new town. Ciudad Guayana provided important urban lessons, useful for similar kind of new towns and satellite cities, as the ones currently emerging in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.@en

This paper reviews the social and professional embeddedness of planning, describes its legal framework, and reviews territorial governance and everyday planning transactions. The findings suggest that the social embeddedness of planning is constrained by Peru’s persistent inequality challenges. Its planning approach has hardly evolved from modernist models centred in zoning and building codes. Its fragmented and profuse legal framework constitutes a black box for planners and citizens, while territorial governance is subject to the state’s low interest and capacity to plan, manage and steer spatial development. These results demand a fundamental revision of the planning system, its approach and governance.@en

Editorial@en

The State of the Art of Planning in Latin America.<br clear="none"/><br clear="none"/>@en