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This paper discusses digital neighbourhood communication in rural areas and its effects on local communal life. Therefore, survey data as well as guided interviews of residents in Metelen, county Steinfurt (Germany), are analysed. The results indicate that using digital neighbourhood platforms in rural communities intensifies contacts and further strengthens the feeling of social participation.However, digital neighbourhood contacts do not facilitate relationships concerning analogous material exchange, such as lending items. Furthermore, the analysis of the qualitative interviews shows that digital neighbourhood communication is used in the organisation of community life, presents local activities, and simplifies the organisation of local customs. All in all, those digital structures are mainly used for information purposes. Consequently, digital neighbourhood relations must be regarded when developing and organising future public services, although a functional usage is required to achieve a successful outcome. As digital contact emerges from analogous contact, occasions and infrastructure to actually ensure direct contact are inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Up to now, there is no equivalent to the smart city concept for rural areas. Such a concept can draw on the findings and experiences from the urban context, but must adequately take into account the characteristics and structures of rural areas. This is where the enrolment of a concept for smart countryside in this paper starts as an action-oriented framework. Through an integrative consideration of current trends and tendencies, normative debates about equality and justice as well as possibilities in various fields of action, it includes development options that become possible through digitalisation and 'smart' implementation. Their realisation should be strongly demanddriven. The concept includes also governance processes and knowledgemanagement, and the application of co-design approaches. Development potentials of digitalisation are seen beyond simple technology orientation. The concept of digitalisation presented here can contribute to a more comprehensive transformation of rural areas towards sustainability. It formulates a joint design mandate for politics, society and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an additive index on climate policy engagement at the municipal level, based on the three dimensions awareness, conception and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The distortion of the index is based on the self-perception and personal assessment of municipal decision-makers, which were collected and evaluated as part of a primary survey (postal survey). The index shows how strongly a municipality is committed to climate policy. Thus, it represents an extension of previous indices that either only consider climate mitigation or adaptation or are only based exclusively on secondary statistics. The second part of the paper describes the application of the index in three counties or 51 municipalities in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The interpretation takes place in the context of structural characteristics of the municipalities concerned (number of inhabitants, share of votes of different parties, geographical location). The distribution of the index values shows a similar awareness in climate protection and climate change adaptation, but an increasing discrepancy in the implementation of adaptation-specific measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critique of planning and new proposals to reform the English planning system and "rethink planning from first principles" have led to the introduction of rules-based principles into what is regarded as the paradigm of a discretionary planning system, culminating in a recent White Paper, which it is claimed will create a faster and better planning system than the existing discretionary approach. But are these proposals based on an oversimplified understanding of the differences between discretionary and regulatory models, neglecting, for example, the negotiation between stakeholders and the flexibility which also exists in regulatory planning systems? Our contribution will review some of the recent changes of the English planning system and reflect on experiences with zoning in European countries to bust the myth that the planning reform claims to address: the possibility to combine faster decision making with better place making and less interference from local planning authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the connection of the foundational economy approach, a contemporary concept in the public services discourse, with the notion of spatial justice. It argues that the economic relevance of the systems of the foundational economy are important for territorial development issues, too and that they are able to provide a substantial contribution to sustainable and just spatial development. First, the concept of spatial justice is introduced as a spatial planning policy interpretation of equal living conditions. Based on four sub-dimensions, it is shown that access to basic services for all people plays an elementary part in this. The concept shares this perspective with the foundational economy approach. The latter opens up a new perspective on public services and, in addition to the service provision, also emphasises the high significance of foundational economic systems for labour markets. Against this background, a descriptive-statistical evaluation of labour market data on the spatial distribution of the foundational economy at the district level in Bavaria is carried out. Overall, the paper addresses the uneven spatial distribution of the foundational economies and advocates better funding for municipalities in order to achieve spatial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of shrinking populations, new strategies for maintaining services of general interest in European rural areas are required at both a European and a German level. With regard to this, the field of post-school education as a service of general interest is seen as playing an important role with considerable effects on regional development processes. Educational institutions, traditionally highly centralised, have been shown to influence decisions on staying in or leaving rural areas and thus can further intensify regional demographic developments. In this paper, we examine two examples of post-school educational opportunities in Scotland and Sweden that have been able to establish themselves in a rural setting affected by shrinking trends. Our interpretation is that the continued stability of these examples is due to the ability of local actors to utilise local resources in a meaningful way. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to a structured understanding of how local actors manage limited resources to provide services of general interest in the environment of rural, sparsely populated regions in the long term. To enable a systematised analysis of our data, we use an analytical framework originally developed to understand the resources generated by informal planning practices in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipalities as key players in the transport transition, local authorities are increasingly using consultative public participation in planning. So far, however, it is unclear to what extent they use participatory processes in mobility-related planning and how these are organised. This paper closes this knowledge gap based on an analysis of the consultative, discursive participation processes for mobility-related planning in German cities since 2015. 180 cities and 350 procedures were analysed to determine to what extent an what characteristics in German municipalities use consultative, discursive participation procedures inmobility-related planning and what possible in- fluence of the respective context can be derived from this. The study analyses 'participation-oriented' cities with guidelines for citizen participation, which were compared to a random selection of 'typical' municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony as well as the three German city states. It is clear that discursive consultations are carried out regularly, in particular in municipalities with guidelines and larger cities. Yet in most cities such processes are still the exception. Worth criticizing is that the formats used can usually reach only certain groups of the population and that for a significant proportion of the processes examined no information on the results of participation can be found. As a result, the potential of discursive citizen participation in addressing the municipal transport transition have not yet been sufficiently utilised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen participation has played an increasingly relevant role in spatial planning and development aiming to shape sustainable and innovative processes since the 1970s. Nevertheless, analogue participation is associated with various problems, such as social selectivity and a loss of civic trust in administration and politics. Against this background, high expectations lie in the development of digital participation formats, which have significantly changed the participation landscape. Despite the rapid development of digital participation based on new technologies and external factors such as the Covid- 19 pandemic, there is still a lack of comprehensive empirical studies on spatial patterns and determinants. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to give an overview of the patterns, methods and determinants of digital and multi-channel participation in Germany. We comprehensively investigated digital and multi-channel participation processes on the websites of German cities and districts -- about 4,000 approaches in total. The results show spatial disparities in digital participation processes. While the availability of broadband internet and public debt do not significantly influence the digital participation density in districts and cities, low election turnouts go along with high densities. This suggests that the administrations are responding to political disinterest with digital participation. The results also indicate that digital participation can be less socially selective, as high shares of population without German citizenship, highmigration rates and low employment rates have significant positive effects on digital participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of whether 21st-century urbanization dynamics are leading to a suburbanization of poverty in Western city regions has been on the agenda of spatial researchers and housing policymakers for over a decade now. Persistent reurbanization trends are putting increased pressure on innercity housing markets, resulting in affordability problems for low-income households. Evidence from the US and the UK shows that financing mechanisms in the real estate sector were severely disrupted in the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009 and subsequent years, with many households losing their homes and being forced to move. Though social security systems and social housing policies generally have a moderating effect, they vary widely across Western countries. Against this background, this paper presents three spatial observation methods tailored to the spatial analysis of poverty concentrations in Germany. The methods are based on three popular conceptualizations of poverty: material poverty, relative poverty, and the concept of neighbourhood deprivation. The main novelty presented in this paper is a cold-spot analysis of purchasing power in 33 city regions using interactive map visualizations and complemented by socioeconomic indicators. Expert feedback verifies the validity of the approach which addresses a 'blind spot' in assessing poverty in Germany, where many low-income households are increasingly exposed to risks of poverty despite not qualifying for social benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2011, the European Commission has recommended that member states reduce land take and achieve the 'no net land take' objective by 2050. The objective was reinforced in the EU 'Soil Strategy for 2030' and is likely to gain further importance in the upcoming Soil Health Law. This paper investigates the feasibility and implementation of a no net land take policy for the Flemish region, Belgium. The new land policy for Flanders was announced in 2016, representing a paradigm shift from spatial growth to final growth boundaries. The paper uses a generic model of the policy-making cycle to assess the implementation of a no net land take policy at the national or regional level. We propose a roadmap of implementation in five cyclical phases for Flanders, but many aspects of this proposed roadmap can be applied to other parts of Europe as well. In the implementation stage, the targeted selection and implementation of land-use instruments is of paramount importance to realise the land-take reduction trajectory. The Flemish case of the so-called Bouwshift shows that development instruments supporting further construction at good locations are politically more popular than protective measures that actually protect soil and landscape but intervene in property rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current debate on agonism has become fixed in an institutional approach: How can an agonistic design institutionally become a tool against forms of domination? An agonistic space needs decisions that do not silence dissensual voices with a finite decision. This paper suggests that this agonistic approach needs de-cisions or simply put, temporary decisions drawn from seeing a decision as a solution for now. A de-cision is not a no-decision, but a decision recognised as temporary. The paper proposes 'the sketch' as an appropriate mode for working de-cisionally and unfinished. By having a sketch and working de-cisionally, planners are able to invite agonistic positions to ongoing talks and to act progressively, adaptably, or rationally in the face of emerging circumstances and uncertainty. To work unfinished from a sketch transforms the planning process from being a matter of reaching a finite decision to a strife about how to understand the present and which temporary contours and directions tomove on from. The paper as such thus deals with difficult praxis questions, for instance: How is it possible to allow dissent to inform planning praxis in praxis? How can quarrelling and working unfinished empower planning democracy?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts are considered as vital elements of plural democracies in agonistic political and planning theory. According to this theory, antagonisms are to be tamed and channeled into agonistic disputes. Therefore, forms of participation in planning procedures play a key role in the resolution and regulation of conflicts. The central question of this paper is the role of participatory procedures in planning in order to resolve and settle conflicts, which occur in a particularly sharp way in the context of large-scale projects. The paper presents planning conflicts and forms of participation using the case of the settlement of the Gigafactory Tesla in the German state of Brandenburg. Within the framework of an empirical case study, the approval procedure of the project and a land use plan procedure of the municipality are analysed. Both procedures are characterized by a great acceleration, early preliminary decisions and participation deficits. The result shows that in the case of the settlement of Tesla, in addition to conflicts of interest, values and location, procedural conflicts also occur, which call the acceptance of planning into question. The forms of participation practiced do not prove suitable for taming conflicts, but rather produce mistrust among opponents and reinforce antagonistic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the scope for action by municipalities in a climate emergency and places it in the framework of ecomodern (urban) policy. We analyse the way in which two German 'climate emergency municipalities' translate conflicts of post-fossil transformation into concrete political and planning strategies. Although more than 2,200 authorities around the world have already declared a climate emergency, research on the impact of these resolutions on the political orientation of municipalities is very limited. Our research focus is on the (potentially agonistic) treatment of conflicts in planning. We argue that in times of a socio-ecological crisis, success in conflict resolution cannot refer to appeasement and depoliticisation. Instead, we propose a framework of five criteria, based on critical theory on ecomodern strategies, planning processes and degrowth. Thus, this practice-related and explorative paper connects empirical insights from the German cities of Constance and Berlin with an innovative normative framework. The findings tell a complex story of an, at least partial, admission of the failure of previous climatemitigation strategies, a lack of social institutions of limits, an instrumental relation to nature and a disregard for social injustices. The paper discusses how municipalities, in the context of ongoing tensions over the post-fossil transformation in Germany, on the one hand hold on to business-as-usual approaches, but on the other hand also set political impulses for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy transition and the expansion of renewable energies are central challenges to planning. In view of tightened climate protection targets and the associated rise in installation capacity, planning conflicts are likely to intensify further in the coming years. At the same time, democratic institutions are under increasing pressure. The expansion of wind energymust proceed swiftlywhile democratic participationmust be ensured. Based on planning conflicts over wind turbines in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg, this paper addresses the extent to which research on planning conflicts can benefit froma justice perspective, both in theoretical-conceptual and empirical terms. Drawing on concepts from research on spatial justice, energy justice, and planning justice, the paper uses a three-dimensional conception of justice to identify access points for dealing constructively with conflicts. First, conflicts have to be recognized as such and their productive potential has to be acknowledged. Second, strategies have to be established that allowconflicts to be dealtwith constructively. In doing so, several dimensions of justicemust be taken into account: distributive justice andthequestion ofwhat is to be distributed according to which criteria, recognition justice and the reflexion on difference and needs beyond hegemonic majority opinion, and finally procedural justice, which is intended to ensure that recognition and fair distribution can be implemented. In this way, a proactive attitude towards planning conflicts can make a central contribution to sustainable and democratic planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper critically reviews communicative and agonistic planning theories from the viewpoint of a systemic turn in deliberative democracy theory. While the approach reveals complementarities between the theories, it also argues that each theory is vulnerable to criticism because of an 'institutional gap'. The theories are found to complement each other in addressing planning conflicts at different dimensions. Communicative planning theory deals with conflicts between different stakeholders' interests in planning processes. Agonistic planning theory, in turn, concentrates on conflicts from a more ontological dimension, related to the (implicit) conflict between hegemonic and marginalized discourses and related identity-forming processes of inclusion and exclusion in planning policies and governance. The institutional gap of communicative planning theory is argued to reside in its focus on situational deliberation that largely ignores the institutional dimension of rules and norms of democratic conduct. Agonistic pluralism, in turn, does engage with the dimension of democratic institutions, but in an overly critical manner, making it difficult for agonistic planning theory to address the dynamic interplay between institutional reconfiguration and policy stabilization in planning. This is argued to be the institutional gap of agonistic planning theory. The paper calls for further work in the field of planning theory to incorporate a systemic approach to deliberative democracy and thereby tap into the dialectics of institutional and situational dimensions of planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with planning conflicts in the pluralistic democracy, based on an international literature review. The aim is to trace the state of research on how spatial planning deals with conflicts. Moreover, we reflect upon the development of major planning paradigms with regard to this topic. To this end, some basics on conflict and conflict resolution in spatial planning are presented. The collaborative planning paradigm, which appears hegemonic in planning theory and practice until today, is then critically discussed with regard to its handling of conflicts. Subsequently, agonistic planning theory is introduced with reference to the work of political scientist Chantal Mouffe. This concept claims to deal specifically with conflict, which renders it particularly relevant for this topic. In conclusion, the paper reflects on the extent to which agonistic planning can have practical relevance for the regulation of conflicts and how this can be achieved in contemporary planning practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents initial findings on the establishment of a social logistics project in a peripheral rural region in Germany. As part of a real-life laboratory, two services were developed and tested with the aim of improving rural supply: the delivery of regional goods and the return of online orders in cooperation with a regional public transport provider, regional retailers and parcel services. An evaluation team provided support to the project in identifying, monitoring, and documenting the societal impact of the services and promoted impact-oriented project management. The concept of providing services of general interest through social logistics and testing them in a real-world laboratory was based on preliminary work in the region. The results indicate that this approach can promote this type of social logistics in the long term. A social logistics approach does not focus solely on economic aspects but emphasises social and environmental benefits for the region. A real-world laboratory approach enables an environment that promotes open exchange, involvement of different stakeholders and joint problem solving in a reflective, iterative process. This methodological approach enabled the continuation and out-scaling of the service's core offerings immediately after ending the test phase and is seen as an important prerequisite for establishing a long-term perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent transformation of our energy system towards a sustainable infrastructure of public services regularly fails in regional implementation due to spatial and social requirements of rural areas. Using the example of a transdisciplinary project, this paper identifies dilemmas in the participatory implementation of the regional energy transition and formulates conditions for the success of a spatially sensitive energy transition governance. As shown by the governance approach developed for "co-transformation", context-sensitive forms of participation in co-regulation, co-allocation and co-visioning can contribute to procedural, distributional and future justice and thus to the acceptability of the regional energy transition as a public service infrastructure in rural areas. Central fields of action are open-ended and regionally adapted forms of participation through co-regulation in the planning process, approaches to spatial co-allocation of energy transition-related burdens and local added values, as well as the co-visioning of regional energy futures and regional energy visions to be derived from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteer firefighters are an established institution in many rural areas across Europe. In spite of this ubiquity, many volunteer brigades have been increasingly facing challenges in discharging their functions. Issues such as undertaking necessary investments, and ensuring daytime availability have become particularly critical against the backdrop of an increase in the number of interventions. Many of the measures intended to futureproof volunteer firefighting are based on transferring responsibility to different actors. To this end developing and expanding the reach of fire safety education functions to enhance the public's prevention and self-protection skills. The aim of this paper is to explore the process of institutional change induced by innovative initiatives, which aim to advance fire safety education. For the study, we draw on empirical research, which follows the development and mainstreaming of two projects in Austria and Germany. These initiatives aim to standardise disparate approaches and are underpinned by new forms of multi-level cooperation. Our inductive analysis identifies five key steps which define the successful long-term implementation of projects in coproduced services of general interest. We conclude with observations on the redistribution of responsibility for fire services and hazard prevention in contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public space is an essential element of cities as it offers several benefits. Due to its significance, there is much discussion of its design, development and use. Although equally important, the management of public space lacks attention in academia and policy. This is regrettable given concerns about the quality of public space and calls for substantial changes in public space management. Moreover, while multi-actor involvement in public space management has become popular, its impact has been less studied. This paper attempts to fill the research gap by presenting an empirical study on Görlitzer Park in Berlin, Germany. Thereby, it focuses on multi-actor involvement in public space management. Based on the results of social network analysis, the paper provides a valuable insight into the actors involved, the actor network and their impact on public space management. Most importantly, the paper argues that the structure of the actor network matters for managing public space. This suggests that improving the actor network can be a key to enhancing the quality of public space. The paper also discusses how to improve communication between actors to better manage public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian-friendly urban structures motivate people to use active modes of mobility and walk instead of using their car. Active mobility is associated with health-promoting benefits and assumed to support neighbourhood-based social interaction. In this context, walkability assessment tools help urban and transport planning to identify deficiencies for the walkability of urban neighbourhoods and use the results to work towards improvements. The results contribute towards the establishment of indicators to measure development and planning targets with respect to the walkability of urban neighbourhoods and continuous monitoring over time. Based on a newly developed and free available GIS-measurement tool this paper assesses the walkability of the 16 most populated Germany cities at a small scale. The lowest average walkability can be found in the city of Dortmund, while Frankfurt am Main shows the highest values. The paper discusses the methodology and the results for the 16 cities and uses short portrayals of the town planning history and pedestrian infrastructure in Dortmund and Frankfurt am Main to explain possible reasons for the differences in the measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency of the energy transition is in conflict with delaying effects and options that are not optimally used in the complex, multi-stage German planning system. This also applies to the law and procedures of spatial planning, as well as the interaction of spatial planning with construction planning and sectoral law. Here, fundamental reform options have not yet been exhausted, despite many current legislative projects. Some procedural steps and options for legislative deviations can be eliminated altogether, the interaction of planning and decision-making levels can be made more effective, and subject-related certain hierarchical levels in the planning system could be omitted on a topic-specific basis. Based on a brief analysis of the initial situation for spatial planning, this paper first provides corresponding general considerations on such far-reaching acceleration options and their consequences. This is followed by the presentation of numerous specific spatial planning-related optimisation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of this decade, society has been confronted with multiple crises that also act as new drivers of spatial development. Based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with housing market actors, this paper presents an interim balance of the lasting influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on housing preferences and location decisions as well as initial empirical knowledge and theses on the effects of the 2022 energy crisis on these decisions. It emerges that the energy crisis already has a greater impact on spatial development today and will probably have a greater impact in the medium and long term than the pandemic. Housing preferences that arose during the pandemic have already shifted again or can no longer be implemented at present. At the same time, the influences of the pandemic can no longer be considered in isolation from the energy crisis. While the pandemic will further intensify spatial deconcentration processes, the effects of the energy crisis are spatially more differentiated. Moreover, in a time of multiple crises, future spatial development will not be shaped by individual crises, but by their interaction - also with long-standing trends such as the ageing of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In line with the European Commission's target, land take in Germany has to be reduced to net zero by 2050. This not only presupposes greater inner urban development and more efficient development outside existing settlements, but also puts a greater planning and political focus on renaturation. The aim of this paper is to investigate the implementation of no net land take policy using the example of the highly dense and urbanised federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Based on an online survey, the current and potential use of (planning) instruments to implement this policy in all 396 municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia was investigated. The findings suggest that the municipalities are not yet in a position to consistently implement no net land take. Particularly in the field of renaturation, this is often due to a lack of experience and uncertainties in the use of the existing (planning) instruments, but also to lacking awareness of the problem and a lack of political and social acceptance for higher housing densities. Since the necessary instruments are defined in current legislation and the concepts for implementation are generally known, it is important to support municipalities in using the available instruments and concepts even without direct pressure to act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Densification and more efficient use of land are important planning challenges across Europe intended to aid the pursuit of sustainability goals. Property taxation influences land use. It can discourage or incentivize efficient land use. In the international academic debate, the land value tax is considered an effective land policy instrument that can promote more efficient use of land. Germany is currently transforming its property taxation system and has discussed different property tax models in the political decision-making process. This paper explores the political motivations of this reform based on a discourse analysis of plenary sessions and complementary in-depth expert interviews. On the one hand, the empirical findings highlight the experts' positive assessment of the potential of the land value tax for efficient land use and densification. On the other hand, they also show how the potential allocative effects of the land value tax were largely overlooked during the political debates. Instead, discussion centred around distributional aspects of the property tax. It can be shown that despite the great potential for tackling urgent planning issues, policymakers are hesitant to adopt and apply instruments of land policy that intervene in existing private property rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning practice is confronted with seemingly contradictory challenges, such as the qualitative and quantitative provision of housing paired with reducing land consumption. To address this apparent dilemma, legislators are increasingly relying on densification. However, a fundamental prerequisite (and often a significant challenge) for this is the availability of the land required. Recent planning law reforms in Germany and Switzerland aim to increase the effectiveness and speed at which land is made available for inner development, thus meeting the seemingly conflicting planning policy goals. This paper compares recent legislative efforts in Germany and Switzerland using the comparative law method. The German Building Land Mobilization Act includes amendments to the Building Code (Baugesetzbuch) and the Building Use Ordinance (Baunutzungsverordnung), intended to enable faster activation of building land and the creation of more affordable housing. To this end, the amendment expands existing instruments for the activation of building land and introduces simplifications to the planning law. In Switzerland, the Spatial Planning Act has been partially revised to achieve inner urban development through precise regulations on the expansion of building zones and instruments to ensure the implementation of zoning plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing and controlling "land take" of agricultural and natural land for urbanisation is the target of European and national policies. Although this objective seems to be increasingly understood among the actors, the prioritisation of issues and the measures taken by governments to achieve it are very heterogeneous. The practices of local public and private actors do not necessarily follow the directions established at national level by the instruments. This paper examines the concrete forms, in France, of collective action in the field of spatial planning to limit land take, particularly in French cross-border areas that are experiencing strong urban growth. The survey is based on 60 semi-structured interviews with public actors involved in the spatial transformations of the cross-border regions around Geneva, Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, Luxembourg and Strasbourg-Karlsruhe. The survey shows that collective action in spatial planning is very diverse in France, depending on the regions and municipalities concerned, even if the legal rules are the same. Local public actors play strategically with the rules and adapt them. Moreover, the organisation of collective action to limit land take is marked by interdependencies between regions, and in our case between neighbouring countries, which are often left unexamined in national planning policies and instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on intensive study of the contents of the journal "Raumforschung und Raumordnung" (RuR) - from its first publication in 1936 to its (temporary) discontinuation in 1944. It was the forum for the new scientific and political thoughts and reflections that were formed in this field during the Nazi era and was supported by the institutions in charge of its publication: the "Reich Association for Spatial Research" (RAG) and the "Reich Agency for Spatial Planning" (RfR). The aim of the paper is to uncover which social developments and accompanying intellectual groundwork from the time before 1933 the authors were able to build upon, both positively and negatively, and which expositions paid tribute to the (malevolent) spirit of the times and the goals of the Nazi regime. The contradiction between professional competence and intellectual subservience to the Nazi regime, or even the perversion of professionality, is revealed in the career behaviour of academics and practitioners, almost all of whom were born around 1900. Their activities after 1945 and their future careers are mentioned but are not the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the journal 'Raumforschung und Raumordnung' (RuR), the topic of spatial planning in the GDR played but a subordinate role. Nevertheless, it is possible to deduce basic statements on the reception of GDR territorial planning. This paper examines articles in the journal with the aim of identifying tendencies in discussion of spatial planning in the GDR. It is essential to also take a look at the development of spatial planning in the GDR itself in order to trace the relationship between the image in the journal and the real frame of reference in the GDR. The analysis oscillates between chronological consideration of epistemologically promising articles in RuR and distinctive findings in GDR planning research. The focus of the analysis is on key publications that also contribute to interpretation of the spatial turn. The tendencies found also reflected socio-political connotations of federal policy towards the GDR. These began with rather distanced reporting on the 'Soviet zone' and critical observations on individual aspects of spatial planning there. This was followed by increasingly objective reports and critiques that sketched a differentiated picture of spatial planning in the GDR. Finally, the papers comprised professional discussion about the GDR on equal terms, combining critical reflection with consideration of problems in the FRG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines shifts in the design of, use of and rhetoric accompanying maps published in the periodical Raumforschung und Raumordnung from 1936 through 1955. In the discussion of these maps published prior to and during the Second World War, special attention is paid to the depiction of the German Empire, the incorporation of Austria into maps of the Third Reich, and cartographic portrayals of Poland and other eastern European territory. Particularly in-depth investigation into articles and maps written and drawn by Reinhold Niemeyer and Rudolf Hoffmann is also undertaken here. In evaluating the maps published in Raumforschung und Raumordnung (RuR) after Germany's defeat, this paper focuses on depictions of the new Federal Republic of Germany and the mapping of its relationship, geographically, to the German Democratic Republic. While the content of the maps published in RuR reflected the territorial reality of its German cartographers and authors - from violent expansionism to defeat, territorial diminution and a split into two distinct nation states -, this paper argues that many of the cartographic strategies employed in its pages remained relatively consistent over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metropolitan regions result from spatial rescaling processes and region formations and are considered as "soft spaces of governance", referring to international debates on the "new regionalism". This paper addresses the criticism that the focus on competitive metropolitan regions distracts from the need for action on classic spatial planning issues. For this, the paper examines and discusses the institutional integration of regional planning in the German metropolitan regions and the activities of regional growth management as well as the regulatory intensity of regional plans based on a group comparison of metropolitan regions. As a result, the thesis of an institutionally fragmented regulatory growth management by regional planning can only be confirmed for a few metropolitan regions, where no relevant institutions and instruments are implemented in the core area. Regarding the "soft" instruments of growth management, the situation is very different. Here, the action potential is not yet fully utilized, even in metropolitan regions with strong institutional cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the management of settlement growth in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from the perspective of informality. Luxembourg is subject to high demographic and economic growth pressures across all parts of the country (capital, old-industrialized South, rural North), which strongly challenges the current planning system. At the same time, there is no formal regional planning, apart from approaches of intermunicipal cooperation, which are mainly voluntary in nature. Drawing on empirical case studies in two high-growth municipalities (Junglinster, Schuttrange), the paper outlines planning decisions in the institutional triangle between municipality, state and private institutions. Informality serves here not only to compensate for a lack of planning control, but also to deal with the country's complex legal framework conditions. The vital interests of landowners come into play informally as well: since parts of the country's wealth emerge from the valorization of property, speculative interests are immanent, and thus block development processes. In this context, the paper addresses elements of a regional growth management that could close the gap that exists between state planning and municipal autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of residential areas in the context of settlement development is a significant driver regarding land use and thus critical in achieving the goal of reduced new land use to less than 30 hectares per day by 2030. Although spatial planning and spatial science have been addressing this issue for years, e.g. through consistent land management, the current land use in Germany amounts to around 52 hectares per day (as of 2019). This is i.a. because the control of settlement development often only intervenes in developments that go beyond the own communal development. Approaches to controlling self-development usually remain on a blanket level and thus promote decentralized decisions that, in total, contradict the set goals. The aim of this paper is to present a model for calculating self-development, which not only takes demographic development into account, but also aligns the size of self-development with site-specific requirements to consider the principles of spatial planning and thus promote sustainable spatial development. In its empirical basis, the paper is based on statistical analyses of the respective needs as well as surveys, interviews research results that have been carried out or have arisen within the framework of the BMBF-funded project Interko2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many metropolitan regions face concerns over sprawling development, increased costs of maintaining infrastructure, and loss of green space and farmland. Some metropolitan regions have intentionally created spatial policies to govern development patterns and manage growth within their region. This paper compares the spatial policies applied in three case studies: the Puget Sound region (Washington State, USA), Metro Vancouver region (British Columbia, Canada) and Stuttgart region (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). While all three regions share a vision that can broadly be summarised as transit-connected communities, each metropolitan planning organisation leverages a variety of spatial policies. Based on the unique planning cultures, various governmental actors take on different roles at the local, county, regional and state levels. This paper categorises and compares the multi-level responsibilities for defining, mapping, and implementing spatial policies. With this focus, the paper provides an international comparative perspective on approaches, context, and contents of multi-level growth management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, growth coalitions and growth critiques are examined by using the example of in-migration policies in the context of Jena case study. This is based on the following questions: Which local growth coalitions do exist with which growth goals? To what extent do growth boundaries lead to an expansion of local growth coalitions with the urban hinterland? What kind of growth-critical positions are there in urban politics and to what extent do they question growth policies? The paper particularly ties in with the theoretical discussion of post-growth planning and enriches it by an empirical reflection by examining forms of municipal growth scepticism as well as limits of regional cooperation. The results show that there is a distinct growth coalition in Jena, which pursues the goal of attracting skilled workers to secure economic growth. However, due to natural growth limits and the resistance of individual residents, in-migration policies are reaching their limits, so that intermunicipal cooperation in the urban region is being sought as a fallback solution. Explicit critiques of growth and a fundamental public discussion about growth policies, on the other hand, just begin to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to agonistic democracy theory, conflict is key for the functioning of plural democracies. In particular in 'fractured' societies, deliberative spaces in which adversary positions can be recognized and negotiated, serve as important arenas where antagonisms can be transformed into agonisms. Professionals dealing with conflicts between different interest groups - for instance in the field of spatial planning - are therefore challenged to identify appropriate 'spaces' for debate. Against this background, this paper discusses the extent to which localist discourses and practices can facilitate such spaces. For this purpose, we introduce a scheme for classifying different manifestations of New Localism. This scheme is unpacked and discussed by means of two contrasting case studies that reconstruct notions of New Localism based on amigration-related conflict in a rural area and on a conflict about traffic calming in an urban neighbourhood. Thereby we show how localist discourses and practices can contribute to establishing common symbolic spaces and temporary conflictual consensus, but also to concealing and normalizing exclusionary positions in small-scale conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the emergence of planning law and the juridification of planning in Germany did not follow any planning theory, but a logic inherent to the constitutional state. Only in small number of cases did the legislature or the judiciary adopt elements of planning theories, most of which were developed much later. Law defines itself by its strict claim to be obeyed. Therefore, the requirements of planning law may conflict with the recommendations of normative planning theories and then claim precedence over these. Nevertheless, with regard to the viability of some proposals of agonistic planning theories, legal borderlines arise. This paper deals with these borderlines. However, the goal of agonistic theories of planning coincides with the basic function of planning law to pacify conflicting interests and to reach acceptable solutions. Opponents of state planning projects thus are entitled to participate in planning procedures and to file farreaching lawsuits. However, the legal order also sets limits to legitimate resistance to democratic planning and cannot refrain from distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate forms of rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the "communicative turn" planning research has been intensively concerned with how conflicts should and are dealt with. Approaches of "agonistic" planning theory contradict the normative premise of building consensus among planning participants. Rather, they want to make conflicting positions normatively fruitful for spatial development. At the same time, they emphasise a supposed duality of planning and protest, which is questioned in recent protest and movement theory. Building on a discussion of different approaches in planning and protest theory as well as an empirical analysis of planning-related protests in Germany, this paper shows that these protests are increasingly perceived as "normality" by planning actors and that antagonistic participation remains culturally bounded despite increasing conflictuality and the supposed questioning of representative democracy. Protest action is part of differentiated "participation bundles" that, depending on the situation, also include public participation, direct democratic referenda and lawsuits. Protesters usually pursue a reform-oriented agenda that does not require "taming". However, the underlying conflicts often cannot be "resolved" at all. Planners, on the other hand, may have rationalist and deliberative approaches at their disposal even within an agonistic planning environment, which they use situationally and strategically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of residential areas in the context of settlement development is a significant driver regarding land use and thus critical in achieving the goal of reduced new land use to less than 30 hectares per day by 2030. Although spatial plan-ning and spatial science have been addressing this issue for years, e.g. through consistent land management, the current land use in Germany amounts to around 52 hectares per day (as of 2019). This is i.a. because the control of settlement development often only intervenes in developments that go beyond the own communal development. Approaches to controlling self-development usually remain on a blanket level and thus promote decentralized decisions that, in total, contradict the set goals. The aim of this paper is to present a model for calculating self-development, which not only takes demographic development into account, but also aligns the size of self-development with site-specific requirements to consider the principles of spatial planning and thus promote sustainable spatial development. In its empirical basis, the paper is based on statistical analyses of the respective needs as well as surveys, interviews research results that have been carried out or have arisen within the framework of the BMBFfunded project Interko2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of differentiated land use was formulated already 50 years ago to preserve biodiversity and to maintain or restore the necessary landscape structure. Although it has been anchored in the Federal Nature Conservation Act, there is still nomonitoring of its implementation, although the German Advisory Council on the Environment has been calling for this for 25 years. The paper argues that the technical prerequisites formonitoring the differentiated land use are ready today and discusses the conceptual steps necessary. It identifies several dimensions and proposes corresponding indicators of landscape structure, in particular the degree of diversification and themixing of intensive land uses, the distribution of the size of intensively used areas, the proportion of semi-natural areas (at least 10%) and the interconnected arrangement of seminatural areas. Furthermore, the paper discusses suitable reference units and existing data. Finally, we identify remaining gaps in the data basis and discuss the question of defining target values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper puts forward a proposal for the consideration of atmospheres within the analysis of the social construction of landscape(s). Starting out from an overview of approaches in constructivist landscape research, focusing on the German speaking world, we may confirm an increased interest in the role of subjective multisensorial experience with regard to constructions of landscape(s), which has, however, not yet been reflected in current research approaches. The concept of atmosphere, with its consideration of multisensorial in situ-encounters, may be able to contribute to the scholarly discussion. Following a presentation of core ideas of the concept of atmosphere(s), we show that, on a conceptual level, the conscious experience of atmospheres and their effects may inform the construction of landscapes. Furthermore, in a methodological section we illustrate on the basis of two exploratory examples, how the influence of atmospheres on subjective constructions of landscape(s) may be empirically accessible. The paper closes with a discussion of our proposal within current trajectories of the Anglophone landscape geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the shift of the workplace to the private home in the Covid-19-pandemic, the sphere of gainful employment has more or less abruptly invaded the private sphere and has not only led to necessary adaptations in houses and flats, but has also raised new questions about the attractiveness of residential locations. Based on the results of an online survey, this paper examines the influence of home office on housing and settlement structures. Considerations of co-working spaces, another form of mobile work, are also included in the analyses. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion about the attractiveness of residential locations and the consequences of mobile working for housing behaviour. The results show: Contrary to what media discussions suggest, no clear effects on location preferences or a 'new desire for the countryside' can be identified (so far). Furthermore, there is an increased willingness to move, especially in flats that are perceived as too small; dissatisfaction with the flat is higher among respondents with little space. Co-working Spaces do not yet play a role, but respondents with a preference for flexible forms of work are considering them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contribution to the debate on deregulation of spatial planning and lean regional plans, this paper presents the first long-term study for Germany analysing the regulatory intensity of all regional plans legally valid in 2017 on the topics of settlement and open space development over time. As a final result, the assumption of a general deregulation and streamlining of regional plans cannot be confirmed. In contrast, changes in the legal basis, such as the priority of inner over outer urban development, have led to a continuous increase in the regulatory intensity over time, particularly in the case of positive growth management policies with an active role of regional planning. At the same time, there is evidence of streamlining tendencies in some states, which can partly be interpreted as deregulation tendencies. To date, however, they are merely an expression of state-specific ways of shaping regional planning and not a sign of an accelerated deregulation competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the last two decades, large housing estates in eastern Germany have become the scene of an increased concentration of low-income households. At the same time, considerable shifts in the structure of home ownership have been documented in these areas. National and international investors have acquired large housing stocks here and become a fundamental part of the local housing markets. This paper discusses the connection between both developments. Based on a case study in two large housing estates in Halle (Saale) and Schwerin, it is argued that the relative impoverishment of large housing estates can be traced back to two developments on the supply side: On the one hand, municipal housing companies are increasingly made responsible for the provision of homes for households that cannot provide for themselves on the market. Due to the uneven spatial distribution of municipal housing, this leads to an increased concentration of poor households in the large housing estates. On the other hand, letting policies of financial investors are characterised by tight yield requirements. In view of a rather restrained demand for the housing they manage, they therefore increasingly rent their flats to population groups that are avoided by other landlords. Together, these developments operate like a 'segregationmachine', which continuously shifts low-income population groups to the large housing estates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the accessibility of a city -- for example, due to the connection to the long-distance rail network for the first time -- not only affect transport demand but can also have catalytic effects on urban development. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study presented in this paper investigates whether long-distance rail stations in Germany between 2004/2005 and 2016/2017 generate such impulses for urban development in their catchment areas via their accessibility level and dynamics. Results show no direct impulses of accessibility on urban development in many cases, suggesting that other reasons such as population and housing pressure or the existence of inner-city (unused) development sites are the more significant factors for urban development dynamics. In addition, accessibility changes are often subject to business considerations that are generally detached from local political and planning goals and interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses which methods can be used to operationalize mobility in German planning practice. In particular, the index methodology, which is rarely used in planning practice, is suitable for the systematic operationalization of complex phenomena such as mobility. After a short theoretical introduction, the concept of mobility will be operationalized step by step for indexing. For this purpose, in addition to a theoretical construction model for a mobility index, a sciencebased list of indicators necessary for its calculation is created. Subsequently, this spatial mobility index is calculated on the basis of accessibility and user survey data from the Berlin district of Pankow. As a result, the index clearly shows on maps where people have more or less mobility options. Thus, the mobility index provides a novel method for planning to identify high or low mobility in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City-regional discourses around organisational forms offer little evidence to analyse and guide cooperative processes in a context-specific way. Design criteria can contribute to overcoming this deficit. This paper operationalises a proposed set of design criteria by drawing on the discourses on collaborative governance and land management. Subsequently, these design criteria are used to analyse an ongoing process for the development of a housing development concept in the Leipzig city region and to reflect on the criteria. This contributes to the question of how collaborative governance of land-use development in city regions should be designed. Important points of reference for the design of cooperations are the conscious selection of the actors to be involved and the development of mutual trust between them, joint definition of rules of the game for cooperation, determination of the nature of the emerging institution, orientation of the joint work towards the future and the development of a common understanding of the situation to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning processes of windfarms are often characterised by image conflicts. Conflicting parties use visualisations of the planned project to picture the assumed impact on the landscape and to underscore their opposing positions to the project. For observers and decision-makers (e.g. municipal leaders, administrators) it is often difficult to distinguish realistic visualisations from manipulative ones. This paper presents ways in which observers may acquire a competence in "reading" and assessing visualised windfarms - similar to the critical competence in assessing the validity of media sources. The paper also presents criteria for the different states of the visualisation process - from the context of production, to image processing to modes of presentation. These criteria render pictures more transparent and thus may help observers base their interpretations on sounder reasoning. Drawing on social constructivist theories of landscape interpretation and on extensive experience in conflict moderation, the paper demonstrates how a public planning dialogue, in which contradicting pictures claim validity, may be designed in order to clarify the value of each visualisation for the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 20th century activity spaces have mainly been perceived as a niche concept in German-speaking spatial research. Meanwhile, international research on activity spaces has developed further and gained quite some attention recently. This paper elaborates a comprehensive definition of activity spaces and presents current fields of application with special regard to research on travel behaviour, segregation and public health. Activity spaces as a concept improve estimates of the interactions between individuals and their respective social or built environments. Therefore, insights on activity spaces might ease the development of adequate planning and policy measures. In order to facilitate the systematic generation of future research questions, hypotheses, research designs and practice-oriented insights, this paper presents both a novel analytical concept and established methods for the study of activity spaces. The paper closes with considerations on possible research perspectives that lie beyond the current state of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground-mounted photovoltaic systems have the potential to become one of the central elements of the coming energy system. The German federal government is now planning a significant and rapid expansion. However, the extent to which appropriate planning and measures take place in regions and municipalities will also depend on the spatial planning regulations of the federal and state governments. This paper explains that considerable support and control options are available to accompany expansion efforts. Cross-references to the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Building Code are also shown and it is explained that the different types of ground-mounted photovoltaic systems may partially require a differentiated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]