Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 4.2
Continued
continued
European context (expressed through policies on cross-border connections and
main transport infrastructure), this has not been picked up in the English plans,
which appear to tacitly reconfirm the 'island perspective'. Furthermore, both Dutch
and German plans at least attempt to communicate interrelationships between dif-
ferent parts of the territory (expressed through policies on co-operation between
cities and towns, city and countryside, accessibility of urban networks, as well as
ecological and biotope connections), whilst a discussion of any functional relation-
ship, or integration of policies, is notably absent from English plans. On the contrary,
while Dutch and German strategies increasingly seek to overcome the barriers that
administrative boundaries present to integrated spatial strategies, English regional
plans discuss the definition of sub-regions and sub-areas in great detail - reflecting
the new policy agenda at regional level. Key diagrams in English plans seem to have
the main function of identifying the location of objects in the territory - and these are
more often than not existing, rather than planned, objects or policies. There is a
strong emphasis on replicating the
status quo
rather than communicating future
prospects by focusing on the representation of road and rail networks, ports and
