Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
conference in 1970, and has convened regularly since. In 1983 the European
Charter for Spatial Planning (the 'Torremolinos Charter') was adopted, which set
out an agreement on common principles for spatial policy to be pursued in the
member countries of the Council of Europe. The charter promoted the idea that
planning was an important political matter for all authorities from local to European
levels, that it should seek co-ordination between policy sectors, and that it should
be democratic, comprehensive, functional and future-oriented in order to contribute
to a better organisation of the European territory (Williams, 1996). Based on the
'Torremolinos Charter', the legally non-binding 'Guiding Principles for Sustainable
Spatial Development of the European Continent' (CEMAT, 2000) were approved
by the forty-one member states of the Council of Europe in September 2000.
Within the EU, the joint elaboration and co-ordination of spatial policy and
action across national boundaries increased considerably during the 1990s follow-
ing the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty and the political support given to spatial
planning initiatives at cross-border and transnational level. The need to develop
strategies to guide the development of the European territory has since emerged
as an important issue in the policy debate. The European Commission analysed
spatial development trends primarily through the documents
Europe 2000
(CEC,
1991) and
Europe 2000
(CEC, 1994).
Europe 2000
stated that 'it makes no
sense for planning to stop artificially at national borders' (CEC, 1991: 3), and this
made a significant contribution to raising awareness about the wider processes
which shape development at the transnational and European scale. At the root of
initiatives that encourage transnational or European co-operation on spatial plan-
ning is the recognition that there are some issues that countries cannot take on
independently, such as cross-national infrastructure, flood prevention, environ-
mental pollution or ecological networks.
In the absence of a clear competence for spatial planning for the European
Commission, the
Europe 2000
-studies recognised the importance of national and
regional planning systems and policies for transnational planning initiatives.
However, variations in the way the systems operate, and differences in the
meaning of spatial planning across member states, were recognised as presenting
a considerable challenge for further co-operation across national borders. A better
understanding of the meaning and operation of planning systems in other countries
was therefore seen as a prerequisite to more effective transnational working, and
fuelled the interest in comparative studies.
The EU Compendium of Spatial Plan-
ning Systems and Policies
(CEC, 1997) was commissioned by the European
Commission in order to provide a comparative perspective on the planning
systems of the EU-15 member states.
The fall of the Iron Curtain and German reunification in the early 1990s pre-
sented new challenges for European co-operation in the field of spatial planning.
