Tensions in city-regional spatial planning : the challenge of interpreting layered institutional rules

Kaisa Granqvist*, Alois Humer, Raine Mäntysalo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

39 Citations (Scopus)
137 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The paper studies city-regional spatial planning from an institutional perspective. It applies theories of discursive institutionalism and gradual institutional change to analyse the dialectics of spatial planning and governance between discursively constructed city-regions and the pre-existing regional and local institutional territories. A strained dialectical relationship emerges when city-regional strategic spatial planning is instituted as a supplementary programmatic layer onto the existing strongly regulatory statutory planning, yet leaving intact its deeply institutionalized core-level meaning. Through the case study of the Kotka-Hamina city-region of Finland, the paper explores a situated city-regional attempt to overcome these tensions and generate policy-level change by blending the layered rules and reinterpreting their meaning.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)844-856
Number of pages13
JournalRegional Studies
Volume55
Issue number5
Early online date22 Jan 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • city-region
  • discursive institutionalism
  • institutional change
  • statutory planning
  • strategic spatial planning

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