The End of the Regional Experiment? The Transformation of the English Planning System under New Labour

Authors

  • Stephan Grohs Lehrstuhl für Vergleichende Policy-Forschung und Verwaltungswissenschaft, Fachbereich Politik- und Verwaltungswissenschaft, Universität Konstanz, Fach D 91, 78457, Konstanz, Deutschland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13147-012-0197-4

Keywords:

Planning, Regional planning, United Kingdom, Administrative reform, Regionalisation, Implementation

Abstract

The English planning system underwent a series of remarkable reforms under the New Labour governments between 1997–2010. After the hollowing out of planning functions under the previous conservative governments, planning regained a new significance on the political agenda. First, there was a turn from the traditional paradigm of land-use-planning to a more strategically oriented Spatial Planning approach. Second, the institutional landscape was subjected to a far-reaching reallocation of competences between the local and the revalued regional level. The article resumes this process which was stopped abruptly after the change in government of 2010. It analyzes the implementation of the reforms drawing on two in depth case studies. An evaluation of the reforms identifies the strengths and also the obstacles of the far-reaching transformation in the highly politicized English planning landscape. A discussion of the future of planning after the preliminary end of the regional experiment concludes this article.

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Published

2012-12-31

Issue

Section

Research Article

How to Cite

1.
Grohs S. The End of the Regional Experiment? The Transformation of the English Planning System under New Labour. RuR [Internet]. 2012 Dec. 31 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];70(6):501–514. Available from: https://rur.oekom.de/index.php/rur/article/view/760