Strategic planning for city networks
نویسنده
چکیده
Throughout Europe, policy‐makers are developing policies to foster the spatial, economic and social development of what is, in the literature, often termed 'polycentric urban regions': a regional cluster of close‐by cities. It is assumed that taking a set of relatively small or medium‐ sized cities together opens up possibilities for regional economic growth. In this paper we put forward that the simple fact that a region is polycentric does not necessarily mean that it is more competitive. For that to happen, it needs to evolve into a well integrated urban network characterised by an optimal use of its critical mass, exploitation of complementarities and by spatial interaction. Strategic planning for the development of such polycentric urban regions in many cases involves planning on a relatively new scale, based upon new starting points and taking on board new strategic objectives. This paper presents one of the first (1990s) territorial development visions for polycentric urban regions, the territorial development strategy for the Basque autonomous region. The key idea of this strategy, labeled Euskal Hiria ('Basque Global City'), is exactly aimed at developing the networking between its three main cities (Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria. What seems common for strategic spatial development strategies for polycentric urban regions in general is that there is a huge discrepancy between the spatial‐functional image of such a region presented in the vision and the spatial‐functional organisation of the region in practice. This raises questions over the leverage of strategic planning in such regions. In this contribution, we explore the leverage of the strategic regional development strategy for the Basque autonomous region. In what sense has it been able to provide a policy framework capable of directing and anticipating future spatial developments, and to actually mobilise spatial actors to take the necessary steps to shift the Basque Country's territorial development trajectory in such a way that an urban network – in the true sense of the word – has emerged?
منابع مشابه
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