Seminar European Planning Systems and Planning Cultures

During the last decades a new focus of spatial planning research, enriched by evidence-based knowledge, has been opened up, related to European policies and the development of the European territory. Issues of territorial cohesion and territorial cooperation have been highlighted. However, little has been said about overall changes in planning systems, their rigidity and resilience and the different trajectories of transformation. The seminar deals with the comparative analysis and explanation of changes and continuities in spatial planning across the diverse planning systems in Europe. Based on a multi-scalar analytical framework, we focus on one hand on challenges and driving forces stemming from the supranational level (Europeanization, globalization), and on the other hand we consider the rescaling of planning powers (regions, municipalities). We refer to five dimensions of change (scope of planning, planning modes/tools, scale, actors, and policy style), providing a fruitful base for cross-national comparison of planning systems and cultures. We distinguish between a planning system perspective and a planning culture perspective which describes concrete practices within the legal and administrative frameworks of national planning systems. The block-seminar is oriented to the following questions: 1. How relevant for understanding current planning practices is the classic comparative analysis of planning systems, focusing mainly on the static comparison of legal and administrative traditions, culminating in the description of coherent and homogeneous -planning families” (Newman & Thornley, 1996) or -planning traditions” (CEC, 1997)? 2. What are the advantages of a multi-scalar analytical comparative analysis, and how context matters (Blotevogel, Getimis, Reimer, forthcoming)? 3. Which are the main spatial problems, challenges and driving forces for spatial planning transformation in selected EU countries? 4. Which are the common and different trends of change, concerning scope, planning modes/tools, rescaling, actors and policy/planning style among the EU countries? 5. Is there a -homogeneous” direction of planning transformation or rather multiple trends of continuity and change and an increased -heterogeneity” of planning systems and practices? Can we detect patterns of change among countries belonging in the same -planning family”? The Block-Seminar is organised in 5 compact meetings. (combining lectures and forum-discussions based on presentations of the participants). Students are expected to read the relevant literature of one selected country and to present the main findings regarding planning transformations of the last two decades concerning the five main directions of change. Active participation includes one oral presentation and a written report of about 15 pages about the topic of the oral presentation. Participation is obligatory. Blotevogel,H., Getimis,P. Reimer, M. (eds) (forthcoming): Spatial Planning Systems and Practices in Europe: A Comparative Perspective on Continuity and Changes, London, Routledge. CEC – Commission of the European Communities. (1997). The EU Compendium of Spatial Planning Systems and Policies. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Farinos Dasi, J. (2006). ESPON Project 2.3.2, Governance of Territorial and Urban Policies from EU to local level. Final Report, Esh-sur-Alzette: ESPON Coordination Unit. Getimis, P. (2012). Comparing Spatial Planning Systems and Planning Cultures in Europe. The Need for a Multi-scalar Approach, Planning Practice and Research, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 25-40, 2012. Newman, P., & Thornley, A. (1996). Urban planning in Europe: International competition, national systems, and planning projects. London, Routledge. Stead, D., & Cotella, G. (2011). Differential Europe: Domestic Actors and Their Role in Shaping Spatial Planning Systems, disP, 47(3), 13-21. Master Raumplanung (2012) M.Sc. Spatial Planning (2012): Requirement for passing this course is a proof of sucessful active participation according to §19 MPO. Students are expected to read the relevant literature of one selected country and to present the main findings regarding planning transformations of the last two decades concerning the five main directions of change. Active participation includes one oral presentation and a written report of about 15 pages about the topic of the oral presentation. Participation is obligatory. In addition participating students can take a marked exam (partial performance). The choice of exams (usually oral exam or seminar paper) and their conduct are according to the examination regulations and the module handbook. M.Sc. Raumplanung (2008): Die Veranstaltung ist teilnahmebeschränkt. Voraussetzung für den Abschluss ist der Nachweis der erfolgreichen aktiven Mitarbeit. Daran werden die o. g. Anforderungen gestellt. Technische Universität Dortmund WiSe 2013/14 Zimmermann, Karsten, Prof. Dr. Dr. Reimer Mario