Expert meeting, Brussels, 8 October 2010
Global challenges in polycentric regions. What role for strategic spatial planning?
Global challenges such as climate change, energy supply, globalization or demographic changes, have an increasing impact on societal development. Spatial planning has to introduce new planning views and practices to deal with these developments. This is true for area based policies, where spatial planning has to develop governance approaches to reconcile different and changing demands for space. It demands coordination and integration across sectors, scales, administrative levels or time frames and leads to altering land use practices.
The impact on spatial planning also exists on a more strategic level. Different questions exist in this respect: What type of strategic choices have to be made on what level to deal with these new and existing challenges? How to cope with an uncertain future and how to introduce scenarios? How to cope with trans-border impacts and European frameworks? How to introduce a more dynamic planning system that is able to deal with changing planning environments? Etc.
Although the new challenges are global, it is certain that in densely populated territories, such as Flanders, where available space is scarce, outlining strategic spatial planning lines is urgent and has to be a part of societal debate in order to make it choices of society rather than choices for society.
Many questions exist regarding the nature of strategic planning on a regional scale, but few answers already are clear. The purpose of this expert meeting is therefore to assess the integration of four global challenges into strategic spatial planning systems of polycentric regions. During plenary sessions and workshops, experts will look into what good practices are emerging in Europe, what conceptual frameworks, readjustments of approaches and reforms of spatial planning systems have already been set up and are still necessary to meet these challenges.
Polycentric development in Flanders
The aim is to have an open discussion with experts. Attendance to the expert meeting is limited and by invitation to support the quality and dynamics of the debates. A report for wider distribution will be made, documenting the state of the art on strategic spatial planning in polycentric European regions.
In particular, the state of the art assessment will be elaborated by raising the following key questions:
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What type of territorial concepts, visions or guidelines do the regions use for effectively addressing the global challenges?
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How is spatial planning a part of the overall response of regions to the global challenges?
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What is sustainability from a spatial planning perspective and how is it significant in the formulation of regional responses to global challenges?
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What do we find in practice: what initiatives are emerging, who are the driving actors and what areas of spatial instruments and policies do they focus on? What is thus the constraining and enabling role of institutional arrangement and planning culture when it comes to addressing the global challenges?