Measuring Sustainable Spatial Planning in Germany: Indicator-based Monitoring at the Regional Level

Sustainable development has become an important principle for spatial planning in Europe. In 2000, the European Ministers Conference on Regional and Spatial Planning resolved 'Guidelines for Sustainable Spatial Planning on the European Continent' (CEMAT, 2000). Although the principle of sustainable development has gained popu larity in regional planning, it has not yet been widely implemented. With the amendment of the Planning Law in Germany in 1998, sustainable development has been established as a guiding principle for spatial planning. This calls for instruments to operationalize the concept on the one hand and to measure the sustainability of planning processes, inputs and outcomes on the other. This article examines how indicators for sustainable