Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Germany and in use since the 1970s are the concepts of development centres and
development axes (as transport, communication and supply routes, and of networks
of settlements), defined to help achieving the equality of living conditions across the
territory (CEC, 1999a). The concept of priority areas (
Vorranggebiete
)was
developed partly as a reaction to perceived shortcomings of the model of central
places. This concept, rather than trying to achieve an interregional balance, aims at
developing the perceived strengths of certain areas for the benefit of the whole terri-
tory. The identification of priority areas such as water or nature protection areas, or
open spaces in urban settlements, should help to avoid conflicts of use in these
areas. Although the concept has been criticised for intensifying rather than over-
coming regional disparities, it still features in strategic spatial plans and programmes
in Germany alongside the model of central places, and has had a renaissance in the
revised
ROG
. In the 1990s the combination of the different theories on centres
(theory of central places and growth-pole theory), axes and large-scale decentralisa-
tion experienced an important renaissance as the concept of 'decentralised concen-
tration' (
dezentrale Konzentration
). This concept was seen as a model for
sustainable development, as it aims to achieve large-scale decentralisation along-
side small-scale concentration, i.e. a polycentric settlement pattern in the territory as
a whole based on compact and contained urban areas to avoid urban sprawl and
reduce the need to travel. The concept strongly influenced the debates at European
level, and has been incorporated as an objective for 'polycentric and balanced urban
development' in the ESDP (CSD, 1999). There is also increasing emphasis on
'European metropolitan regions', which aim at introducing network ideas into what in
many respects remains a rather statist and regulatory planning system.
STRATEGIC SPATIAL PLANNING IN ENGLAND
The United Kingdom (UK) is a unitary state, but it includes four countries (England,
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and three legal systems (Figure 4.3). Scot-
land and Northern Ireland have separate planning legislation and thus their own
systems of planning, although they follow the same principles as the system in
England and Wales. This section will concentrate on the English planning system.
There is no written constitution for England or the UK, and rights or duties in
relation to spatial planning are thus defined only by laws, which can be changed
relatively easily. The principles of land use control were laid down in the Town and
Country Planning Act 1947, which has since been changed only incrementally.
However, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 in parts amends the
Town and Country Planning Act by introducing new planning instruments at
regional and local level that will replace existing plans. The courts have only a
supervisory role in relation to spatial planning, concerning the legality of actions of
the administration, and rights of appeal are in practice comparatively limited.
