The European Spatial Approach: The Role of Power and Knowledge in Strategic Planning and Policy Evaluation

Abstract

This article presents a discussion about an emerging area of evaluation discourse, the 'European spatial approach'. It examines the current policy framework at the European-wide level by exploring the alternative planning and public policy paradigms that underpin the case for rationality within this framework. By using such a theoretical review, the article seeks to argue that the current deployment of evaluation within strategic spatial policy and planning is poorly understood, and further work is needed to develop an understanding of the role of power and knowledge in rationality, and in particular the role they play within the pluralist models of evaluation that are emerging within the wider EU policy processes.This is illustrated by specific evaluation experiences within the EU Trans-European Transport Networks and Structural Funds.

New Agendas for Appraisal: Reflections on Theory, Practice, and Research

“…More insidiously, techniques that are ostensibly neutral may in fact have an in-built tendency to support particular outcomes: in road transport, for example, growth-oriented policies have historically been underpinned by particular forms of appraisal (Grove-White, 1997;Owens and Cowell, 2002). In this, and other areas, commentators have drawn attention to the normative presuppositions hidden iǹ`t he methodological thicket'' of appraisal (Grove-White, 1997, page 26; see also Dabinett and Richardson, 1999;Hajer, 1995;Owens and Cowell, 2002), exposing an intricate interweaving of facts and values, and showing that the`separation of powers' is an illusion. Some have suggested that governments restrict the kind of analysis performed, to preempt questioning of these implicit assumptions (see, for example, Amy, 1984).…”

“…At the same time, fundamental questions are being asked, by theorists and practitioners, about the nature of appraisal and its role in the political process. According to a growing number of critical accounts, both have been inadequately conceptualised (see, for example, Bartlett and Kurian, 1999;Bina, 2003;Dabinett and Richardson, 1999;Flyvbjerg et al, 2003;Owens and Cowell, 2002;Thissen, 2000). Literatures related to, but not traditionally part of, the main body of work on appraisal are seen increasingly as rich sources of insights into such issues.…”

Discourses of Mobility and Polycentric Development: A Contested View of European Spatial Planning

“…It bends to an agenda, and to forces, which contest the future path of development of Europe, and so is likely to have at its core the currently hegemonic ideologies of the single market and political integration, but will also re ect other debates about cohesion and environment. (Dabinett & Richardson, 1999) Thus the process of creating a European spatial planning framework is not reducible to a technical exercise. It is implicitly normative and ideological-about politics and power as much as about rational policy-making.…”

“…The purpose of this article is to explore the application of a discourse analytical approach to this emerging eld, focusing speci cally on the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), published in May 1999 (CSD, 1999). Building on previous work, we want to suggest that the ESDP is a vehicle for the expression of a speci c discourse of European space and of related socio-spatial transformation processes (Jensen, 1998;Jensen et al, 1996;Richardson, 1997;Dabinett & Richardson, 1999). Within this emerging discourse, mobility and polycentricity are central themes.…”

Learning About Regionalism from Europe: ‘Economic Normalisation’ and Beyond

“…Perhaps the most significant and encompassing of the EU's recent spatial policy initiatives has been the 'European Spatial Development Perspective' (ESDP) (Committee on Spatial Development, 1999). Generally speaking, the aims of the ESDP are to: ensure balanced regional development and social cohesion; achieve ecological sustainability; and enhance the competitiveness of the EU and its member states (Dabinett and Richardson, 1999). The ESDP is outlined in a number of policy documents, but remains an incipient strategy whose regulatory and programmatic features are still evolving.…”