ABSTRACT
A planning system that was intended to facilitate development, regulate land use, and differentiate between the urban and the rural, has been almost decimated. This chapter explores some of the planning webs and to reveal the new relationships and tensions that either presently exist or are emerging in 21st century Europe. It examines the tensions that are increasingly inherent within planning policy-making and plans by utilising some theoretical discussion to distinguish between the independence of different agencies of the state, their autonomy and their interdependence. The chapter considers the changing definition and conceptualization of planning including the demands and expectations that are imposed on planning by various tiers of governance. Some aspects of planning theory are utilized to understand the complex inter-relationships between plans and planning at different spatial scales. The chapter also considers from a theoretical perspective the competing and kaleidoscopic planning pattern now existing.
