Esdp European Spatial Development Perspective

The European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) is published in eleven official EU languages and so is the most international planning policy document that exists. This book is the only comprehensive account of the process of preparing, negotiating and adopting this document. It outlines the differing perspectives of the European member states and shows that the last thing its proponents wanted is a masterplan. The Making of the European Spatial Development Perspective is a unique book offering a snapshot of contemporary European spatial planning.

The Institutionalisation of European Spatial Planning aims to clarify the enterprise of European spatial planning. The emphasis of the book lies on the need for a better understanding of the process of European integration in general. It particularly points at the emerging middle range theories that used concepts that were showing similarity to those that academics –those writing about planning– were accustomed to, such as networks, discourses and governance. The focus of this book is mostly on the post-European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP)– the Committee of Spatial Development – from 1999 until now. As it is collection of articles, it has a different gestation process and does not tell a story from A to Z. What this book is about, however, is merely the issue concerning the institutional capacity of the ESDP and whether this has evaporated or not. The fact that this book exists at all suggests it has not.

There is a strong international dimension to spatial planning. European integration strengthens interconnections, development and decision-making across national and regional borders. EU policies in areas such as environment, transport, agriculture or regional policy have far-reaching effects on spatial development patterns and planning procedures. Planners in the EU are now routinely engaged in cooperation across national borders to share and devise effective ways of intervening in the way our cities, towns and rural areas develop. In short, the EU has become an important framework for planning practice, research and teaching. Spatial planning in Europe is being ‘Europeanized’, with corresponding changes for the role of planners. Written for students, academics, practitioners and researchers of spatial planning and related disciplines, this book is essential reading for everybody interested in engaging with the European dimension of spatial planning and territorial governance. It explores: spatial development trends and their influence on planning the nature, institutions and actors of the European Union from a planning perspective the history of spatial planning at the transnational scale the planning tools, perspectives, visions and programmes supporting European cooperation on spatial planning the territorial impacts of the Community’s sector policies the outcomes of European spatial planning in practice.