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This paper shows that, in principle, better public control in planning tends to contain land consumption in the medium-long term, thus confirming the reliability of the typology of spatial governance and planning systems in Europe recently proposed in this journal. That typology, covering 39 countries classified into five types of system by decreasing capacity for public control, is here related to the variation of land consumption in the respective countries over approximately 20 years. The result of the quantitative comparison is interpreted and refined through a qualitative analysis aimed at explaining the apparent anomalies. The results of the analysis generally verify the investigated correlation. Ultimately, to give substance to the declared commitment to curb or reduce land consumption, political attention should also be paid to the quality of the institutional technologies that can work to this end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the functions of spatial governance and planning systems are generalizable, 30 years of comparative studies, especially in Europe, have shown the heterogeneity characterising these 'institutional technologies'. This contribution builds on the materials of the recently concluded ESPON COMPASS research project to propose a European typology on the capacity of public authorities to control spatial development, a crucial aspect for the life of entire cities, regions and countries. Based on the opinions expressed by respective national experts, the systems of 39 countries (28 EU and 11 non-EU) are compared in relation to the mechanisms to allocate land use and spatial development rights as well as to the prevalence of the state vs. the market in guiding the development decisions. As a result, the European systems are placed on an X-Y diagram, which makes it possible to cluster them in consistent types that raise new comparative observations and general findings. In summary, the capacity for public control of spatial development looks variegated in Europe, although limited overall. Even if the power relations between state and market established in each institutional context are certainly influential, the models adopted for allocating spatial development rights also play a role in determining the observed trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate regulation of spatial development is at the origin of the current global crisis and increases, in years of crisis, the unequal distribution of wealth. The importance of the related risks for democracy draw attention to the systems of spatial governance and planning, through which States regulate spatial development. In Europe, the countries most affected by the unequal effects of the crisis have spatial planning systems that are traditionally based on the preventive assignation of rights for land use and development through a plan. The systems of other countries had established beforehand that new rights for land use and for spatial development are rather assigned only after the public control of development projects and their distributional effects. Despite the evidence that some models can operate better than others in ensuring public government of spatial development, the improvement of spatial planning systems is, however, limited by their complex nature of ‘institutional technologies’. Especially in a context of crisis, planners are responsible for the increase in public awareness concerning the role of spatial governance in economic and social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]