An underlying aim of European territorial cooperation initiatives, such as INTERREG, is that they will lead to mutual understanding and learning across national boundaries. However, the effect of mutual learning on national systems and policies of planning is uncertain. After all, spatial planning systems are deeply embedded in their socio-economic, political and cultural context, which can potentially constrain the scope for mutual learning. Moreover, planning systems may have a certain degree of path-dependency, such as the persistence of institutions and cultures. In this paper, we explore the relationship between planning systems and their context and assess the extent to which cooperation and learning might contribute to convergence in styles of planning in Europe, as well as why and how this might be taking place. We take as our context the prevailing social model or model of society, the collection of common social and cultural values. We examine and compare typologies of planning systems and typologies of social models and find a degree of correspondence between them. The examples of England and the Netherlands are used to illustrate this interdependence. However, they also reveal how planning systems and policies in different contexts are changing in similar ways, and perhaps even demonstrate a measure of convergence. In other words, external factors may be overriding or undermining the influence of the national social model. The implementation of planning reforms may be running ahead of wider changes in the social model.

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.

This extensively revised fourteenth edition incorporates the major changes to planning introduced by the 2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act and the government’s mission to change the culture of planning. It provides a critical discussion of the system of planning – the institutions involved, the plans and other instruments that are used, the procedures for controlling development and land use change, and the mechanisms for implementing policy and proposals. It reviews current policy for sustainable development, housing and the Sustainable Communities Plan, the Barker Review, urban renewal and regeneration, the renaissance of city and town centres, the countryside, transport, and the heritage. Contemporary arrangements are explained with reference to their historical development, the influence of the European Union, the Labour government and changing social and economic demands for land use change. Detailed consideration is given to: the nature of planning and its historical evolution policies for managing urban growth and delivering housing sustainable development principles for planning social and economic development of the countryside conserving the heritage changes to the profession and education of planners. Special attention is given to the objective of improving the co-ordination of government policies through the spatial planning approach. The many recent changes to the system are explained in detail, and each chapter ends with notes on further reading, lists of official publications and an extensive bibliography, all of which enhances its reputation as the bible of British Planning.

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.

(2007). The emergence of the spatial planning approach in England. Planning Practice & Research: Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 43-62.