Strategic planning as a regional development policy mechanism: European context

The increasing interest in a strategic approach to space arrangement at all levels, and particularly on the intra and interregional level, as well as the changes in the area of spatial and regional planning, are some of the basic characteristics of theoretical and practical activities and efforts undertaken and realized in the field of organization and arrangement of space in the European Union during recent decades. Strategic planning gained importance in the framework of those changes, particularly owing to the growth of the environmental complex and sustainable growth planning, but also because of the need for a higher security of markets and states. Strategic spatial planning can be defined as a quite diverse planning activity. It is considered that 'new' strategic planning will not represent a return to comprehensive planning, but will rather be a combination of traditional and new approaches to planning of sustainable development where an integrative role will be progressively assumed by spatial and regional plans and programs. Apart from a review of the development of strategic planning, this paper considers the importance and role of strategic planning as a mechanism of regional development and 'new' regional politics, based on the contemporary development of critical thinking and practical experiences in the European Union.