Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
development control, the contents of the local development plans and the proce-
dures for their preparation are contained in the
Baugesetzbuch
(
BauGB
) (Federal
Building Code), which applies uniformly across the country. These regulations
assign the responsibility of implementing control to the local level. There are two
types of local land use plans, which are both statutory and for which content and
symbolisation are regulated by federal law and highly standardised. These are the
Flächennutzungsplan
(
FNP
) (preparatory land use plan) and
Bebauungsplan
(
B-
Plan
) (binding land use plan). The
Flächennutzungsplan
is binding on public
authorities but has no legal effects on the rights of private landowners. The
Bebau-
ungsplan
(
B-Plan
) is drawn up for a clearly delineated section of the municipal ter-
ritory, which determines the accepted land use of plots and contains an
environmental assessment. It has to conform to the
Flächennutzungsplan
, and is
formally adopted by the municipality as a local statute (or by-law), which means
that it is binding on everyone.
Similar to the Dutch situation, planning is not institutionalised in Germany,
and professionals come from a wide variety of disciplines, some of which are less
spatial in orientation than others (such as law and economics). Nevertheless, the
central function attached to 'planning maps' in statutory spatial planning means
that mechanisms for producing these are well established, thus offering little scope
for variation and experimentation and requiring a high degree of professionalism in
their preparation. The increasing use of informal planning instruments - explicitly
encouraged by the revised
ROG
- will most likely result in different and possibly
more innovative approaches to cartographic representations than those prepared
as part of the formal planning system.
The 'spatial' and integrated approach to
Raumordnung
(spatial ordering) and
Landesplanung
(state planning) in Germany means that much attention is given to
the availability of comprehensive systems for the collection, maintenance and carto-
graphic representation of geo-spatial data at all planning tiers.
Raumordnungs-
berichte
(Spatial Planning Reports) (cf. BBR, 2005) are produced at regular
intervals at federal and
Länder
level which are increasingly aimed at the general
public. There is much use of spatial concepts, and most of these have been in use
for several decades. The concepts of central places and development axes, for
instance, are still cornerstones of German planning, despite the fact that they have
been criticised for relying on outdated theoretical assumptions and proximity consid-
erations. Despite all criticisms and increasing recognition of its shortcomings, the
central place concept (the hierarchical model for the supply of the population with
services and employment, comprising higher, middle and lower-order centres) is
again included in the most recent overhaul of the
ROG
(1998) as one of the funda-
mental principles for spatial planning and as a rule to govern
Land
-level spatial
structure plans. Similarly fundamental to the principles of spatial planning in
