Urban futures: Strategic planning in post-socialist Europe

Abstract

Recent planning experiences in post-socialist cities indicate a growing interestin strategic spatial planning. In the last ten years, most capital cities from theBaltics to the Balkans have gone through a process of strategy development witha varied degree of success (Buckley and Tsenkova, 2001; Nedovic-Budic, 2001;Maier, 2000). A number of secondary cities have replicated the process, giving animpetus to a range of strategic planning politics. While strategic planning is notnecessarily embedded in the planning legislation, it appears to provide a much-needed link between the traditional comprehensive land use planning and fiscaland financial planning carried by municipal bureaucracies (Tosics, 2003). In theirsearch for new planning paradigms and more flexible approaches to city planning,municipalities in transition countries have embraced strategic planning as a way toinvolve the business community and the broader constituency in defining a visionfor the future. More importantly, this more proactive approach has created anopportunity for mobilization of funds and political support for urban development,thus, bridging the resource gap under a regime of fiscal austerity (Tsenkova, 2003).It appears that strategic spatial planning has evolved as a parallel instrument tostatutory land use planning as well as regional planning. The latter, imposed byEU guidelines, is perceived as a bureaucratic budget enlargement exercise, withlimited comprehensiveness and public involvement.This chapter explores challenges and opportunities for strategic spatial planningin post-socialist cities. Drawing on the experience of six capital cities – Prague,St. Petersburg, Vilnius, Sofia, Budapest, and Riga – with strategic spatial plan-ning, it outlines the essential characteristics of the process (plan-making) and theproduct (strategic plan). It establishes clear links between the process of strategydevelopment, its institutional framework, and the hierarchical structure of goals,objectives, and actions. The case studies provide important insights for planningpractice in the context of rapid economic, social, and institutional change. Theresearch highlights the responsiveness of the model to transition imperatives andits ability to define contextually appropriate multi-dimensional strategies for thespatial development of post-socialist cities.447