Sustainable development has attracted attention from both English and Korean planning systems. Whilst embracing this concept within planning, both countries have attempted to reform their local plan-making systems to flexibly respond to changing circumstances. This similarity of direction towards reformation of the planning sector raises questions for this research. Given that England embarked on promoting sustainability within its plan-making system ahead of Korea and reforming its planning system in the same direction as Korea, there may be a possibility that the current English planning system shows how far Korea can progress in the pursuit of a more environmentally sustainable planning system in the future.With this in mind, the research deals with two domains: understanding the environmental sustainability of the local plan-making systems in the two countries and discussion of the transferability of the lessons extracted from the comparative analysis. The findings reveal that many of the lessons learnt from the English experience could be adaptable in a Korean context under the existing legislation and that an amendment of national directives, in particular, Directive on Urban Planning could expand transferability. For instance, by designing the process of community participation and integration in greater detail in the Directive and suggesting detailed process of strategic environmental assessment as in the English system, there is a greater possibility for the local plan-making system in Korea to support environmental sustainability within planning more substantially. Together with this, findings on transferability anticipate that a potential conflict could exist due to the financial and administrative burden which may be imposed on local planning. Furthermore, the consensual knowledge held by actors involved in the plan-making process could facilitate the transferability of the suggested lessons. However, the current Korean politics which is focused on economic concerns surrounding the reformation of the plan-making process could create potential obstacles in accomplishing the suggested lessons.

Magistro darbas skirtas specialiųjų planų ir kitų teritorijų planavimo dokumentų santykio teorinių ir praktinių problemų nagrinėjimui. Nuo pat Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo, planuojant teritorijas buvo susidurta su įvairiais iššūkiais. Reikėjo tinkamai sureguliuoti ir įtvirtinti teritorijų planavimo santykius, ko pasekoje, 1995 m. buvo priimtas Lietuvos Respublikos teritorijų planavimo įstatymas. Šis įstatymas nebuvo stabilus, nuolat kito. Pagrindinė problema buvo ta, kad nebuvo tinkamai sureguliuota teritorijų planavimo dokumentų, ypač specialiųjų planų teisinė galia ir jų tarpusavio santykis. Siekiant išspręsti praktikoje išryškėjusias problemas, buvo nuspręsta reformuoti teritorijų planavimo sistemą. Teritorijų planavimo reformos rezultatas buvo 2014 m. sausio 1 d. įsigaliojęs Teritorijų planavimo įstatymas, kuriame įtvirtinta nemažai naujovių, palengvinančių planavimą. Šiame įstatyme apibrėžta specialiojo teritorijų planavimo dokumentų teisinė galia, kuri apibrėžė šių dokumentų vietą visame teritorijų planavimo dokumentų komplekse. Tuo pačiu, įstatymų leidėjas padarė keletą teisinės galios išimčių, kurios galimai sąlygos tam tikrus konfliktus ateityje. Nepaisant to, naujos redakcijos Teritorijų planavimo įstatymą galima vertinti pozityviai. Įstatymų leidėjui iš esmės pavyko patobulinti teritorijų planavimo dokumentų sistemą ir, vertinant patį įstatymo tekstą, yra sudarytos teisinės prielaidos geresniam ir kokybiškesniam teritorijų planavimo reguliavimui. / Master thesis is dedicated to analyse theoretical and practical problems of special plans and their link between other spatial planning documents. Spatial planning has faced various challenges since the restoration of Lithuanian independence. It was necessary to regulate and consolidate relations of spatial planning. The result of this consolidation was the enactment of spatial legal act the Law on Zoning and Planning of the Republic of Lithuania in 1995. The Law on Zoning and Planning was volatile, unstable and caused many conflicts. The main problem of spatial planning statutory regulation was undefined legal power of special plans and obscure link among other spatial planning documents. In order to solve existing practical and theoretical problems it was decided to reform the legal system of spatial planning. The result of this reform was enactment of new version of the Law on Zoning and Planning of Republic of Lithuania, which came into force on 1st of January, 2014 and established numeruos innovations in spatial planning. This law finally defined the legal power of special plans and their position in the complex of spatial planning documents. At the same time, the legislator has made a few exceptions to the rule of this legal power which can possibly cause conflicts in the future. Nevertheless, the renewed version of the Law on Zoning and Planning can be assessed positively. The legislator has surely improved the system of spatial planning and created decent... [to full text]

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While climate change mitigation has been on the agenda of spatial planning practitioners for over two decades, adaptation has only become influential in spatial planning practice in recent years. This trend is evident not only at the municipal levelbut also at the regional and national levels. The revised planning and building law from 2011 states that municipalities must consider climate change. In parallel, a body of research focusing on the relationship between gender and concern for environmental and climate change and arguing that women are more concerned and proactive with respect to environmental issues has emerged. However, this research has been criticized for being essentialist and for stigmatizing women and men. The long-term aim of the present dissertation is to contribute to knowledge on how a gender perspective on municipal spatial planning can contribute to efficient and well-informed climate change response, as well as on how a gender perspective, as an analytical framework, can be developed to analyze, on the one hand, spatial planning related to climate change and, on the other, spatial planning more generally. One of the main contributions of my dissertation is to demonstrate that, by including a gender perspective in municipal climate change response, aspects that may be important for achieving efficient and well-informed spatial planning related to climate change response that are not typically prioritized can be afforded prominent places on the agenda. In this dissertation, I refer to these aspects as feminine values and perspectives—or attributes. I also contribute to the development of an analytical framework that can be used by policy makers and scientists to assess how a gender perspective is and can be integrated within municipal spatial planning processes related to climate change response, as well as spatial planning more generally. Furthermore, in addition to the development of efficient and well-informed responses, a dimension of gender equality must be considered. My dissertation contributes to the understanding that planners who adopt a gender perspective must consider the general level of gender equality in a country. Although the primary objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the development of efficient and well-informed policy, issues of equality and democracy cannot be overlooked. As I argue in my dissertation, participatory approaches to spatial planning are imperative for municipal efforts related to climate change. Nonetheless, participatory approaches require spatial planners to ensure that democracy and equality, on the one hand, and efficient and well-informed policy delivery, on the other, do not conflict. / <p>QC 20140214</p>

After being neglected for two decades, rural areas in China are experiencing another wave of reform. There has been increasing attention from central government on rural issues and a series of rural resurgence policies were published with a central idea of ‘urban-rural integration and New Socialist Rural Construction Programme’ (State Council, 2010b). Planning as a policy tool to guide development has just began to cover rural areas in China. There is a need to develop a framework, both theoretically robust and deliverable, to guide rural planning in China. ‘Spatial planning’ has been widely adopted as a planning approach in Western Europe, including the UK, to achieve sustainable development. Hence, the research aims to use the concept of ‘spatial planning’ to identify potential ways to integrate rural areas into the complex planning system that currently exists in China. The research was carried out through a case study approach in three municipal cities in Jiangsu province, China. The newly developed rural planning system in Jiangsu province mainly focuses on the development control of towns and villages, physical landuse regulation and the renovation of settlements through town and village distribution planning and village planning. There is a lack of development planning for rural areas. The findings also show that the new urban and rural planning system generally fails to integrate urban and rural development, though in some developed areas more attention has been put on urban-rural integration planning. Moreover, it is found that, in many areas, the new urban and rural planning framework tends to be urban-centre-led and economically driven, which has led to the loss of rural landscape and characteristics. The research also identifies the weakness of planning at the local scale in coordinating policies and projects of different sectors. In addition, local government plays a leading role in the making and delivery of rural planning in China and, in some areas, local government activities in rural development and planning are much more a political response to the national and provincial government’s policy rather than the local demands. Based on these findings, the research provides some policy recommendations for modifying the current rural planning framework in China to overcome these problems in the short and long term by making reference to some of the key ideas of the spatial planning approach.

This thesis discusses the governmental institutional dynamics that structure the formulation and coordination of spatial policy within the federal Canadian intergovernmental system and presents methods to improve it. The research utilises the three traditions of new institutionalism - historical, rational choice and sociological - to develop a crosscutting assessment of intergovernmental spatial policy coordination. An embedded case study approach is then used to discuss intergovernmental spatial policy coordination between the governments of Canada, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Research findings highlight the uniqueness of the institutional environments that exist within each government, and to a lesser extent each department, which structure policymakers’ understandings of intergovernmental spatial policy coordination. Policymakers demonstrate a distinct awareness of spatial issues, but they are often constrained in their ability formally to articulate this in the development of public policy, particularly in relation to intergovernmental interactions. The decentralised federal nature of Canada is shown to be a highly influential reason for this, with issues of history, equity, politics and strong regional government cultures playing important roles in impeding intergovernmental spatial policy coordination. The thesis explores these constraints, discussing how both formal and informal institutional structures interact to discourage the use of spatial policy, and discusses the ways in which intergovernmental spatial policy coordination could be enhanced in the specific context of Canada. The institutional framework developed in this research is shown to be a useful method for conceptualising the competing federal principles of unity and diversity in the study of intergovernmental spatial policy coordination. Ultimately this thesis argues that while intergovernmental spatial policy coordination is poorly developed in Canada, policymaker awareness of spatial issues influences the decision-making processes employed to develop and coordinate public policy.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / There are many reasons why Cape Town is the most congested city in South Africa besides there just being “too many cars on the roads”. This paper explores Cape Town’s transport system and spatial policies and how it impacts traffic congestion as traffic congestion serves as a primary indicator of poor spatial planning and development. A desktop study was conducted with secondary data being utilized. The City of Cape Town is aware of the issue of traffic congestion and the impact that it has on commuters, especially those with little financial means. There are numerous policies and frameworks in place to combat the issue of traffic congestion, but corruption and the politicization of spatial planning hinders the resolution of the problem.

Giving a spatial structure to the regional development strategies in order to achieve a balanced use of lands and resources for a more sustainable development is not a straightforward task for the regions in Sweden. The reason is the planning monopoly of the municipalities and lack of planning power at the regional level based on the Planning and Building Act. Therefore, using a strategic spatial planning process as a coordination process is a controversial issue in the Swedish planning system. This thesis is dedicated to a case study (Structural picture of Skåne) in order to achieve a better and deeper understanding of the various aspects of such process. This purpose has been followed through collecting quantitative data (semi structured interviews and documents) and analyzing them according to a conceptual framework. The findings demonstrate that in order to meta-governing the network of municipalities in a region, strategic spatial planning process includes meta-governance mechanisms (network design, network framing and network management). The network design mechanism is heavily depends on the legitimacy of the spatial planning process and the initiator (here Region Skåne) is required to increase this legitimacy by working on different aspects of legitimacy. The network framing is to interactively build a consensus among all the actors by developing a common vision for the region and concretize it through common strategies. The scenarios for the future of the region must be developed through discussions and joint interpretation of the facts and analysis rather than being made merely by technical spatial analysis. Otherwise, making the strategies would face lots of misunderstandings, ambiguities and oppositions. Finally, since a complete consensus is not possible, questions and disagreements always exist. In addition, the weaker actors (municipalities) which have limitations and barriers to implement the strategies or put themselves in line with them need constant support from the stronger actors and the Region. Hence, the strategic spatial planning calls for a continuous discussion and support in order to manage the network of municipalities and keep the created picture alive in the background of their comprehensive plans.

The legal nature of spatial planning instruments Abstract This thesis analyzes the legal nature of spatial planning instruments in the context of the sustainable land development, both in the general level as a structured system of spatial planning instruments and in the specific level of individual types of spatial planning instruments. The thesis provides a comprehensive picture of the system of spatial planning instruments, their interconnectedness and connections that are applied in this system. The thesis also analyzes the various spatial planning insturments, whose legal nature is defined by the purpose and conditions of their use, by the process of their formation and by the subject of their regulation. The emphasis in this work is mainly put on their legal form and the resulting aspects of the individual spatial planning instruments. Thesis also analyzes theoretical and legal basis of spatial planning, which is based primarily on the requirements of sustainable land development, from the concept of which the main goals of spatial planning are formed. Thesis define the concept of spatial planning and its individual levels. Thesis also defines the subjects that participate in the spatial planning processes and the interests that these subjects represent in the spatial planning and what procedural...

Regional spatial planning is on the rise. In a Swedish context, regions hold little mandate in spatial planning, but an ongoing trend of planning extending to the regional level can be seen.  Aside from three regions with official planning responsibilities, many regions practise spatial planning through non-statutory practices.  The aim of this thesis is to explore the types of logic that three carefully selected regions apply in practising non-statutory regional spatial planning. To that end, I analyse the prevailing understanding of the spatial-political arena of municipalities, regions and national authorities, and the challenges that these various types of logic may lead to when practising non-statutory planning. The thesis responds to two research questions1) the types of logic that guide non-statutory regional planning, and 2) the challenges such logics may face. The three selected regions, the Blekinge region, the Västra Götaland region, and the Östergötland region, were studied and compared through interviews, observations and document analysis. A thematic analysis is applied onto the material, from which dominating logics were identified. Findings show that these regions, even within the same national context, operate in diverse ways, and that challenges relate to the current fuzziness of the Swedish regional planning legislation, a perceived lack of guidance from the national level, and difficulties in collaborating with municipalities.