I - Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14235/1757

Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning is an international peer-reviewed open-access journal, produced and owned by AESOP, Association of European Schools of Planning. The journal aims at promoting excellence in planning education and research, a key goal for AESOP. It supports and disseminates scholarly work of the highest quality, covering the whole spectrum of the planning discipline, including, but not limited to, that produced by AESOP members or participants in AESOP events and activities. By expanding the already rich opportunities for networking and scholarly dialogue that AESOP offers via annual congresses, thematic group activities, and specialist meetings, Transactions serves as a platform for the international planning community to share research, innovative practices, and provocative thoughts among peers.

Transactions publishes both contributions arising from different AESOP events and activities and open submissions from all scholars who would like to share their research in the planning discipline. We welcome unsolicited contributions which present the findings of original research in planning and related fields of academic enquiry. We also welcome ‘think pieces’ and policy focussed articles that address diverse contemporary themes in planning and sustainable urban and regional development. Invited papers by members of AESOP are featured in each issue to help stimulate discussions on education and research agenda as well as to contribute to the dissemination of planning research and the AESOP community’s ongoing debates and efforts in promoting excellence in planning. Articles developed from AESOP congress papers, from AESOP prizes, such as Best Congress Paper Prize winners and nominees, Excellence in Teaching Prize winners, and from AESOP Thematic Group conferences, seminars and workshops are also most welcome in the journal.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 75

Open Access
Antigone, today: Dignity and human rights in contemporary spaces
(AESOP, 2020) Lo Piccolo, Francesco
The tragedy of Antigone revolves around the theme of conflict. Both the version written by Sophocles and the one by Jean Anouilh are mainly focused on conflicts. The conflict between Antigone and Creon is real and symbolic at the same time. It is the conflict between a woman’s body and the law, between women’s and men’s conditions, between two anthropologies. It is also a conflict between two opposite ethical perspectives, and two opposite political visions. It is the conflict between the rule of individuals and the rule of laws, between non-violence and violence, social responsibility and individual egoism, and self-identification and identity. The conflict between Antigone and Creon is the heterogeneous sum of many conflicts. If we try to fit all conflicts within a broader framework, we could say that Antigone’s choice of disobedience raises the high-level conflict between human dignity and the law. This conflict takes place within the positive law and cannot exist outside it. Human dignity cannot elude the law, since it is rooted within the legal system. It does not, however, originate from it, but its finalisation is actually in the law; where gaps and fallacies are revealed. Its strength lies in the lack of a definition. Human dignity helps the law to regenerate and not become locked in a formal stronghold.
Open Access
Beyond 2020: Moving from objectives to governance to master ever more pressing challenges
(AESOP, 2020) Böhme, Kai
The adoption of the Territorial Agenda 2030, some 20 years after the adoption of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) (European Commission, 1999) presents an opportunity to both look back on what has been achieved and envisage developments for the next 20 years. This paper starts with some personal reflections on the aspirations put forward in the ESDP and some key achievements. The main part of the paper then concentrates on what might be done differently over the next 20 years. It is argued that because the world has changed substantially since 1999 it is time to breathe new life into the original objectives of the ESDP and support them with clear governance and implementation tools. Furthermore, the geographical coverage ought to be extended to cover the Western Balkans. The final section offers an outlook on what we might want to see when looking back again 20 years from now.
Open Access
Challenges and obstacles in the production of cross-border territorial strategies: The example of the greater region
(AESOP, 2017) Decoville, Antoine; Durand, Frédéric
Cross-border strategies have been flourishing over the last few decades in Europe, mostly in a favourable context where European funding is available and legal instruments are well-developed. However, one may wonder which objectives are really targeted within this very broad and imprecise notion of cross-border strategy. The purpose of this paper is, first, to provide a theoretical framework in order to better understand the different meanings of the notion of cross-border integration and to provide a more critical perspective on its effects. Secondly, it analyses the policy content of the cross-border territorial strategy developed within the Greater Region before, in the final section, pointing out the difficulties faced by policy-makers during its elaboration. This final section is based on the insights brought both by the regional stakeholders interviewed and by our expertise as moderators and scientific advisors within the working group in charge of the realisation of the cross-border territorial strategy. The main finding of our analysis is that the consensus that has been reached by all the stakeholders is the “smallest common denominator”; that is to say, the least constraining.
Open Access
The circular economy in urban projects: A case study analysis of current practices and tools
(AESOP, 2021) Appendino, Federica; Roux, Charlotte; Saadé, Myriam; Peuportier, Bruno
Over the last decade, the concept of the circular economy (CE) has gained momentum among practitioners, politicians, and scholars because of its promise of achieving sustainability goals. However, there is still a need to demonstrate and assess the positive environmental impacts of the CE. With respect to the building sector, the CE is still a relatively new topic. To date, research has tended to focus primarily on the macro-scale (cities or eco-parks) and the micro-scale (manufactured products or construction materials). Nevertheless, the often-neglected built environment is also expected to play a crucial role in the transition towards a CE due to its high contribution to various environmental burdens. This paper contributes to this growing area of research by reviewing four cases of ‘circular neighbourhood’ projects in Europe. First, a conceptual framework analysis is defined and applied to the cases. Second, CE initiatives and actions are identified and classified using interviews and document analysis. Third, the use of assessment tools within these CE projects is investigated. The results demonstrate a diverse representation of the CE paradigm and the growing role played by the assessment tools.
Open Access
City-county consolidation and the (re)conceptualisation of urban-rural planning: A comparative study of Taichung city and Tainan city, Taiwan
(AESOP, 2021) Huang, Wei-Ju
The Taiwanese central government views city-county consolidations as an effective method to strengthen national competitiveness and to balance regional development. But for local governments, consolidation presents a series of planning challenges, especially in relation to the reconstruction of planning concepts and discourses in their new territories. Aiming to understand the process, this study first proposes a typology of regional planning concepts as a conceptual tool to explore whether and how the consolidated governments (re)construct their urban-rural planning concepts, and then it examines the factors that may influence (re)conceptualisation through a comparative study of Taichung City and Tainan City. The research results show that overemphasis on using the concept of competitive city regionalism to balance regional development at the national level may lead to a widening of rural-urban disparities at regional and local levels.
Open Access
Co-production of knowledge: A conceptual approach for integrative knowledge management in planning
(AESOP, 2017) Kaiser, David Brian; Gaasch, Nadin; Weith, Thomas
Sustainable land use needs a manageable nexus of knowledge from planning practice, policy makers, the private economy, and civic society, as well as from scientific research. This is mutually dependent on the communicative and collaborative turn in spatial planning as well as by transdisciplinary research approaches. This paper offers an approach how to organise knowledge management and co-production of knowledge in the context of complex land use decisions. Therefore, a prototype of an internet-based knowledge platform is introduced based on a theoretical reflection of concepts for integrated information and knowledge management, as well as on practical experiences derived from a German case study. We conclude that sustainable land use requires Planning Support Systems (PSS) that combine transdisciplinary perspectives in order to co-produce robust knowledge. This also implies a transdisciplinary design of PSS. Challenges of implementation are discussed and further research is specified.
Open Access
Comparative planning and housing studies beyond taxonomy: A genealogy of the special programme for rehousing (Portugal)
(AESOP, 2018) Tulumello, Simone; Ferreira, Ana Catarina; Colombo, Alessandro; Di Giovanni, Caterina Francesca; Allegra, Marco
Recent European comparative studies in the fields of housing policy and spatial planning have been dominated by taxonomical and linear approaches, and by normative calls for convergence toward systems considered more ‘mature’ or ‘advanced’. In this article, we adopt a genealogical perspective and consider those cultures that are central to the shaping of policy. We set out a long-term exploration of the intersection between spatial planning and housing policy in Portugal and focus on the Special Programme for Rehousing (Programa Especial de Realojamento, PER), a programme that has had changing roles (from a financial instrument to a core component of policies of urban regeneration) in connection with political and planning cultures changing in time and space. In this way, we provide evidence of the limited capacity of taxonomic and linear approaches to describe planning and housing systems undergoing processes of change and, conversely, show the potential of genealogical research.
Open Access
Conformorality and the economic urbanism of Jane Jacobs
(AESOP, 2024) Ikeda, Sanford
The renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs made radical and important criticisms of and contributions to both economics and urban planning. Yet, while her contributions to planning have been embraced and admired, her contributions to economics have been mostly overlooked by the economics profession as well as by most of her ardent supporters. Contrasting the strength of conformorality in each of these disciplines may provide part of the explanation, and comparing the experience of Jacobsian economics with market-process economics can shed additional light.
Open Access
Cultural enthusiasts, civil society and the strategies of heritage-making in late Russian empire
(AESOP, 2019) Kharkina, Anna
Cultural heritage preservation became one of the key topics of public discussion in the Late Russian Empire. These discussions led to the establishment of several initiatives for protecting Russian cultural heritage. This article demonstrates that such initiatives developed a variety of different strategies for heritage-making. Examples from the Society of the Protection and Preservation of the Monuments of Art and Antiquity in Russia and the Society of the Revival of Artistic Rus’ show that several strategies of heritage-making focusing on cultural heritage preservation were developed simultaneously by different civil groups and helped cultivate the interest of the state authority in the subject, an interest which later became institutionalised under the Soviet regime.
Open Access
(De)signs for dignity: Towards an enabling environment in Athens, Greece
(AESOP, 2020) Rodi, Alcestis P.
In spite of regulations aimed at ensuring that all people can enter and move through spaces, the need to create physical solutions that do not separate or segregate disabled populations has been overlooked. Further, the response of architects and designers is often to meet these regulations without considering the emotional impact of their designs, or the need for all users to be able to retain a sense of dignity as they enter and move through buildings and open spaces. This gap calls for a (re)generation of the urban form with a totally new agenda. My research argues that designing spaces for disability should focus on designing places for dignity. Aimed at upcycling everyday environments as enabling environments, this research identifies and comparatively analyses typologies of apartment buildings and neighbourhoods in Athens, Greece, where the experience of dignity is ubiquitously threatened due to a planning pathogenesis. Here, typologies are evaluated using dignity-based criteria, and new design guidelines and actions are proposed. This research and its findings will enrich access-knowledge through their innovative urban design paradigms with the potential to transform spatial environments into dignified spaces for all.
Open Access
Deal-making cities in Latin America : Why we should pay less attention to master plans
(AESOP, 2024) Nascimento Neto, Paulo; Ultramari, Clovis; Prokopiuk, Mario
This paper challenges traditional planning paradigms by examining the tensions that exist between planning as a public process and the plan as an instrument. We explore the concept of conformorality, whereby individuals adhere to specific moral values to gain social acceptance within their groups, and influence urban conflicts and policy outcomes. Through this framework, we analyse the complex interactions that exist between planning, public interest, and moral considerations. By using the Urban Intervention Projects (UIPs) case in São Paulo, we demonstrate how moral factors influence negotiations and policy implementation in urban governance. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the moral dimension within planning studies, and advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to the field, as well as new attitudes toward necessary changes.
Open Access
Developing Companionship with the Left-Behinds: University Social Responsibility and a Collaborative Approach to Rural Regeneration in the Badlands Region of Taiwan
(AESOP, 2022) Chang, Hsiutzu Betty
The subject of regional inequality has been garnering the attention of scholars over the past decade and has generated debates on territories forgotten by mainstream economic activities. Left-behind places are a global phenomenon yet with various situated conditions in different development contexts that required customized, place-based solutions. This paper discusses a possible approach to work with the left-behinds: using the university as an institutional resource to engage people and places in regional regeneration. Using the [anonymised] project as an example, we describe the learning journey of developing the ground solutions and companionship between a research university and left-behind communities in the rural badlands region. Adopting a hybrid of an asset-based approach to community development and collaborative planning for regional development, this case demonstrates a potential level-up strategy for sustainable development for the lagging region.
Open Access
Does territory really matters and, if so, how?
(AESOP, 2020) Santamaria, Frédéric; Elissalde, Bernard
The ambitions of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) in relation to the development of European Union space seem to have been dissolved in the notion of territory which has become a key word in EU Cohesion Policy. The term ‘territory’ has been the subject of many debates, from attempts at definitions, to its rejection as a marker of a renunciation of the aspiration to reflect on, and adjust, development to spatial realities. Based on a constructivist definition of the concept of territory, this article argues that it is not possible to separate territory as a ‘container’ from the various realities of space in so far as the two dimensions are closely intertwined. Furthermore, it could be useful to consider these two dimensions in analysing EU space when reflecting on spatial planning at this scale.
Open Access
“Don’t despise us!” : Addressing the irrelevance of the vulnerable in public space
(AESOP, 2023) Akarsu, Basak; Akcakaya Waite, Imge; Ozmen, Cansu
This paper attempts to develop a novel insight into Hannah Arendt’s socio-political theories in order to examine and alleviate the socio-spatial exclusion of the vulnerable by greater society. It utilises Arendt’s classification of the terms ‘communal’ and ‘irrelevant’ as a pair of opposing concepts in which the state of ‘vulnerability’ is associated with being deemed to be ‘irrelevant’ within society. The study addresses the exclusionary qualities of public spaces by focusing on the complex relationships observed between these concepts in Turkey through a content analysis of 35 national satire magazines and 30 YouTube channels that reflect on various states and perceptions of vulnerability in Turkish society and culture. It concludes with a series of recommendations by which to close the gap within the communal-irrelevant duality that could enhance vulnerable individuals’ urban rights.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 1 / Issue 1 / (2017)
(AESOP, 2017) Babalık-Sutcliffe, Ela; Frank, Andrea; Karadimitriou, Nikos; Sykes, Olivier
It is with great pleasure and excitement that we introduce this inaugural issue of Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning. The journal is a new venture of AESOP and aims to provide a platform for the planning community to share research, innovative practices, and provocative thoughts among peers. It expands the already rich opportunities for networking and scholarly dialogue that AESOP offers via annual congresses, Thematic Group activities, specialist meetings such as the Heads of Schools workshops, and summer schools. Transactions seeks to incorporate the spirit that guided AESOP from its beginning – to be inclusive, openminded, and to embrace the diversity of national cultures and milieus of planning and planners represented in Europe and beyond. The journal follows a genuine open access publishing model: it is free of charge to submit a paper for a doubleblind peer review, and accepted papers are accessible online, to everyone, for free. AESOP covers the relevant editorial and publishing costs. This inaugural issue contains an essay from Rachelle Alterman, as well as five contributions on a wide range of topics. All the papers published in this issue had initially been nominated for the Best Congress Paper award by the AESOP Congress track chairs in 2014 and 2015. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Professor Alterman for her introductory essay, to Professor Anna Geppert, the President of AESOP, for her Introduction, and the authors who contributed a paper to this issue for their willingness to participate in this endeavour and for their patience as the initiative has taken shape.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 2 / Issue 1 / (2018)
(AESOP, 2018) Babalık-Sutcliffe, Ela; Frank, Andrea; Karadimitriou, Nikos; Sykes, Olivier
We are pleased to present the second issue of Transactions of the Association of the European Schools of Planning, the open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal of AESOP. In keeping with the journal’s aim, this issue brings together a variety of reflective and research papers, associated with AESOP events and activities.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 3 / Issue 1 / (2019)
(AESOP, 2019) Babalık-Sutcliffe, Ela; Frank, Andrea; Karadimitriou, Nikos; Sykes, Olivier
We are pleased to present the third issue of Transactions of the Association of the European Schools of Planning, the open-access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal of AESOP. The purpose of AESOP is promoting within Europe the development of teaching and research in the field of planning. Since its foundation it has always sought to foster the development of planning education, with the original AESOP Charter signed in Dortmund in 1987 placing a particular emphasis on this dimension of planning school activity. Reflecting this, the focus of the present issue of Transactions is on new experiences and issues in planning education. The papers presented here address a range of contemporary issues in the design and delivery of planning education in Europe and other parts of the globe. The focus of the contributions is diverse, ranging from wider structural and contextual issues such as the internationalisation of higher education, through to papers which report and reflect on, experiences of teaching in different institutions and contexts, and using different modes of delivery.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 3 / Issue 2 / (2019)
(AESOP, 2019) Babalık-Sutcliffe, Ela; Frank, Andrea; Karadimitriou, Nikos; Sykes, Olivier
In summer 2017 during the Annual AESOP Congress in Lisbon we were delighted and proud to present the inaugural issue of Transactions of the Association of the European School. Starting this journal took the editorial team on an enjoyable (ad)venture where we discussed format innovations, approaches, and procedures that would be suited to encapsulating the very inclusive, open-minded and nurturing character of the AESOP community while also measuring up to academic standards and scrutiny. It was a venture that was co-created by a mixed gendered team of complementary strengths, experiences, and competencies – as one would expect from a functional team. The papers in this issue of the journal again embrace the diversity of planning cultures in Europe and beyond. They address themes ranging from transport to open space planning. Interdisciplinarity, qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches, design and strategy, and research and education are all covered in varying depth and breadth. (Post-)modern planning is diverse, and requires flexibility and openness to change; in our complex world the future is not predetermined but shaped and evolving. This fourth issue is a good example of this diversity; with a geographical focus spanning from Mexico, Portugal to Russia and Italy, it explores planning approaches (resilience-based planning) as well as knowledge management issues and social behaviours.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 4 / Issue 1 / (2020): Planning for Dignity
(AESOP) Lo Piccolo, Francesco
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, and according to a debate promoted by Benjamin Davy, we decided to have a special issue of the Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning on the intersections of human dignity, planning, and urban spaces. The articles in this special issue were written before the pandemic emergency, but nevertheless make a significant contribution in reflecting on the mutual relationships between human dignity and control of spaces, in ordinary as well as extraordinary times.
Open Access
Editorial - Volume 4 / Issue 2 / November 2020
(AESOP, 2020) Sykes, Olivier
This issue of Transactions of AESOP brings together a series of papers which reflect on the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) document which was adopted by the then member states of the European Union (EU) in Potsdam, Germany in 1999, and is published shortly after the adoption in December 2020 of a new EU Territorial Agenda 2030 document under the recent German EU Presidency. It features an introduction and five original papers which explore the legacies of the ESDP and the present and future prospects for European territorial development and urban policy.

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