Barn or building lot? A cross-case comparison viewing the role of agricultural interests in Austria’s local spatial planning processes

Abstract

Due to ongoing urbanisation processes, farmland and the number of farms in Europe are declining. In the regions affected, spatial planning plays a substantial role in securing agricultural production requirements. The extent to which planning decision-makers actually consider agricultural interests, however, has been little investigated so far. Based on two Austrian case studies, this paper explores the presence of agricultural interests within local spatial planning as well as potential preconditions for their perception and implementation.A systematic case study selection through a weighted linear combination (WLC) brought up the two agro-structurally contrasting municipalities Aderklaa and Leopoldsdorf, located at the Viennese city border. Problem-centred interviews with 27 local spatial planning actors, supplemented by the analysis of planning documents, provided insights into the local spatial planning processes. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework served as the conceptual basis for the qualitative data analysis and the subsequent cross-case comparison.Aderklaa has preserved its rural characteristics in the past decades. Almost 90 % of the municipal area is used as farmland; there are about 25 farms in the village of 196 inhabitants. Leopoldsdorf, on the other hand, experienced an urbanisation of its former village structure. Farmland makes up 50 % of Leopoldsdorf’s area. The municipality has 5230 inhabitants; three farms still exist today. Regarding the integration of agricultural interests into local spatial planning, the municipalities show significant differences: While Aderklaa aligns its spatial planning policy to a large extent with the interests of local farmers, this is not the case in Leopoldsdorf. The study was able to identify the political commitment of local farmers as crucial for the integration of agricultural interests into local spatial planning and to confirm the impact of spatial planning decisions on agriculture.