Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 6
THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF SPATIAL PLANNING IN
EUROPE: CONCLUDING REMARKS
The potential of spatial planning for the co-ordination of territorial impacts of sec-
toral policies is increasingly recognised, and there have been several important
spatial development initiatives both at EU level as well as in the wider European
context over recent years. Cross-border and transnational co-operation on spatial
development is now well established in many parts of the EU, often supported by
the European Commission's funding instrument of Interreg. There have also been
many initiatives within EU member states to prepare informal spatial planning strat-
egies for national and regional territories, which often reflect a wider territorial
context than the nation-state's.
Cartographic representations can be powerful instruments in strategic plan-
ning processes and in communicating the key objectives of the spatial strategy. In
a transnational context, they have the potential to frame spatial policies for a terri-
tory outside the experience of many planners, and can help to overcome language
barriers. However, despite the potential of cartographic representations in spatial
planning, visualisation has been a particularly difficult and controversial exercise in
transnational spatial planning processes - and indeed one is hard pushed to find
examples of cartographic representation of spatial policy options in the spatial
strategies and spatial visions that have been produced at transnational level in
Europe over recent years. This potential for controversies in the debate about car-
tographic illustrations for transnational territories might be rooted in different plan-
ning traditions, and different member states' experiences with 'visualising'.
Ongoing European integration has also increased awareness that the way planning
is conducted in different member states, and the way planning systems are organ-
ised vary considerably across Europe, and that this might also have an impact on
how different countries use cartographic representations in spatial planning
processes. These differences in the form, style and use of cartographic representa-
tions in strategic spatial planning in different planning traditions, and the controver-
sies that they can cause in the communication of spatial policy at transnational
level, were the focus of this topic.
