Territorial Development, Cohesion and Spatial Planning: Knowledge and policy development in an enlarged EU
The debate on European spatial planning spans over two decades, but has gained currency and legitimacy with the inclusion of ‘territorial cohesion’ as an objective of the European Union in the Lisbon Treaty. Although no consensus exists on the specific problems territorial cohesion policy should address, it recognizes the diversity of European regions and their particular development potentials. Moreover, it has the clear ambition, like spatial planning and regional policy, of being evidence-based. This raises the crucial question: what kind of knowledge is needed for this emerging policy area, how is it being (re)produced and by whom?
This book answers the call by chronicling how various ‘epistemic communities’ are developing in the field of European spatial planning in central and east European (CEE) countries and what this means for the future spatial development agenda of the Union. In so doing, the book treats some very interesting and often neglected subject matter, since the literature in this area has focused almost exclusively on north-west Europe. Despite their modest role in setting the spatial planning/territorial cohesion agenda, CEE countries are in some ways more receptive to European spatial planning/territorial cohesion policy, and have in recent years become more active in the discussions on its development, than some of the member states pioneering this policy area. Finally, as much of the literature on EU spatial planning is more descriptive than explanatory, the critical reflection and theoretical rigour of this book is a very welcome addition to this growing body of literature.
Dr. David Evers, Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency