Publication: AESOP Statement : The State of Spatial Planning in Europe
Date
1995
Authors
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Publisher
AESOP
Abstract
This statement identifies key tendencies with respect to urban and regional change at the present time in Europe and the responses to these being developed within the planning field. Europe is by no means homogeneous. There are huge differences between countries and regions, in history and geography, in public policy, attitudes to governance, to cities and the environment. A major task of AESOP is to promote understanding of this diversity and its implications for planning work. There are major changes underway in Europe these days. This can be seen in the economic, environmental and socio-cultural conditions of territories and localities, It is also evident in Europe's political-institutional landscape. This is creating a new context for spatial planning work, and in many countries particularly in Western Europe, a new enthusiasm for planning. One reason for this enthusiasm is the increasing sense that urban regions across Europe are in competition with each other, for private investment and public subsidy. The qualities of places and their institutional capacity to act in a strategic and co-ordinated way seem to be an important factor in that competition. Co-ordination and collabora- tion within urban regions gives confidence to companies moving into a region and helps draw down benefits, or at least mitigate adverse impacts, which companies may generate to the society and the environment of a place. Co-ordinated institutional capacity that can integrate economic, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions of the qualities of places is also emerging as a critical issue for the achievement of strategies for environmental sustainability.