ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how spatial structure planning in Flanders is under transformation. It examines the roots of the existing system of spatial planning in Flanders, which has been an autonomous planning system since the 1980 devolution of the Belgian planning system to the three regions, namely, Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. The chapter assess why the present Flemish government holds an unclear view of how spatial planning should develop in the future. It gives a brief overview of the technical features of spatial planning in Flanders. It also sketches how there has been an evolution towards a mixed system of land-use planning and spatial structure planning, and how the structural aspects of spatial planning in Flanders have been hollowed out since the beginning of the 2000s. The chapter gives an overview of the challenges for the present government in the domain of spatial planning and environmental policy and examines how these are connected to each other.
