Territorial Governance Across Europe

This book provides a comprehensive framework for analysing, comparing and promoting territorial governance in policy relevant research. It reveals in-depth considerations of the emergence, state-of-the art and evolution of the concept of territorial governance. A unique series of ten case studies across Europe, from neighbourhood planning in North Shields in the North East of England to climate change adaptation in the Baltic Sea Region, provides far-reaching insights into a number of key elements of territorial governance. The book draws generalised empirically-based conclusions and discusses modes of transferability of ‘good practices’. A number of suggestions are presented as to how the main findings from this book can inform theories of territorial governance and spatial policy and planning. Territorial Governance across Europe will be of considerable interest to scholars around the world who are concerned with European studies, regional policy, urban and regional planning, and human and political geography. It provides a solid debate on discourses, theories, concepts and methods around the notion of territorial governance as well as a number of empirical findings from various contexts across Europe. It specifically targets scholars involved in policy-relevant research.

The 1990s ended with the birth of the concept of European spatial planning, which became a unique catalyst of change in Europe and in EU member states and regions. This book examines both the evolution of territorial governance at a European and transnational level and how this new type of governance affects planning at the local and regional level. It not only brings together a number of papers written by academic scholars but also several reflective contributions by practitioners. As such, this book seeks to contribute to various theoretical and empirical discussions: the institutionalization of European policy and integration; the Europeanisation of policy and planning; multi-level and multi-actor policy making; the contested nature of the knowledge base of European territorial governance and the role of visualization in politics and planning. This volume has wide-ranging appeal for academics, practitioners and students in the field of urban and regional planning, geography and European studies.

The contributors of this thoughtful book explore the role and influence of political leadership through a rigorous comparative analysis of regional-level dynamics in Europe. Visit our website for sample chapters!

This book provides a comprehensive framework for analysing, comparing and promoting territorial governance in policy relevant research. It reveals in-depth considerations of the emergence, state-of-the art and evolution of the concept of territorial governance. A unique series of ten case studies across Europe, from neighbourhood planning in North Shields in the North East of England to climate change adaptation in the Baltic Sea Region, provides far-reaching insights into a number of key elements of territorial governance. The book draws generalised empirically-based conclusions and discusses modes of transferability of ‘good practices’. A number of suggestions are presented as to how the main findings from this book can inform theories of territorial governance and spatial policy and planning. Territorial Governance across Europe will be of considerable interest to scholars around the world who are concerned with European studies, regional policy, urban and regional planning, and human and political geography. It provides a solid debate on discourses, theories, concepts and methods around the notion of territorial governance as well as a number of empirical findings from various contexts across Europe. It specifically targets scholars involved in policy-relevant research.

This book offers a multifaceted overview of the evolution of spatial development, governance and planning in the Western Balkans from an institutionalist perspective. Written by experts in the field, it features various regional and national studies covering topics such as regional and spatial planning, territorial development and governance, and regional and cross-border cooperation in the Western Balkans. Offering a wealth of national, regional and local insights on territorial cooperation, development and planning, this book will appeal to scholars in regional and spatial sciences and related fields alike.

This book brings together a number of highly innovative and thought provoking contributions from European researchers in territorial governance-related fields such as human geography, planning studies, sociology, and management studies. The contributions share the ambition of highlighting troubling contemporary tendencies where spatial planning and territorial governance can be seen to circumscribe or subvert ‘due democratic practice’ and the democratic ethos. The book also functions as an introduction to some of the central strands of contemporary political philosophy, discussing their relevance for the wider field of planning studies and the development of new planning practices.

The past thirty years have seen a proliferation of new forms of territorial governance that have come to co-exist with, and complement, formal territorial spaces of government. These governance experiments have resulted in the creation of soft spaces, new geographies with blurred boundaries that eschew existing political-territorial boundaries of elected tiers of government. The emergence of new, non-statutory or informal spaces can be found at multiple levels across Europe, in a variety of circumstances, and with diverse aims and rationales. This book moves beyond theory to examine the practice of soft spaces. It employs an empirical approach to better understand the various practices and rationalities of soft spaces and how they manifest themselves in different planning contexts. By looking at the effects of new forms of spatial governance and the role of spatial planning in North-western Europe, this book analyses discursive changes in planning policies in selected metropolitan areas and cross-border regions. The result is an exploration of how these processes influence the emergence of soft spaces, governance arrangements and the role of statutory planning in different contexts. This book provides a deeper understanding of space and place, territorial governance and network governance.

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of territorial change on the municipal level across all European countries. Taking a thematic and comparative perspective, the book builds on extensive quantitative data and a large survey of academic experts in 33 European countries. Territorial organisation of the municipal level in Europe is strongly diversified and yet far from stable. Politically speaking, territorial reforms tend to be risky and difficult, as such changes affect vital interests and identities. Despite such difficulties, the last two decades have witnessed considerable changes in territorial divisions at the municipal level across a range of European countries. In this book, the authors describe and analyse these changes comprehensively, making a vital contribution to understanding the reasons and dynamics of territorial reform processes. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in local or sub-national government, institutional design and more broadly to political science, public administration/policy, human geography, sociology and economics.