ABSTRACT
The trans-national emergence of spatial planning within Europe illustrates the themes of this book. This opening chapter to the second section therefore analyses European spatial planning as a necessary context for the investigation of planning practices in the four European countries that are the core of our text. Planning has been predominantly a local practice shaped by national legislation, or state/province legislation in federal systems like those in the USA or Australia. The EU case is exceptionally interesting since it is perhaps the first time that a trans-national political agent has grappled with planning. As global trading blocks develop further it may set a precedent - or it may remain (or even be stifled by) the specifically European development path that created this departure. There is no legal competence permitting the EU to act on planning matters, rather the concept of subsidiarity applies. This means that matters should be devolved to the lowest level of spatial administration where they can be effectively carried out. Therefore the approach that has emerged represents a consensus amongst all the member states within the EU. In this, as in other areas of political life, things are not always as they appear. Change and conflict compel new compromises that themselves embed ambiguities about intentions and effects.
