European Planning Research Articles

Power system flexibility need induced by wind and solar power intermittency on time scales of 1–14 days

This article describes a method to assess the needed production flexibility to adapt the power system to the production from variable renewable energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaics over time horizons of 1–14 days. Load and production data from the German power system is used to quantify the flexibility need in terms of power and energy storage requirement due to higher shares of renewable energy (20–80%). It is found that with an 80% variable renewable energy share in the German system, the average power need from flexible sources decreases by 31 GW (59%) while the peak power need only decreases by 3 GW (4%). In terms of energy, the storage need over a two week horizon increases by 2.6 TWh, which is 14% of the average load per day. If the European plans for 100 GW wind power in the North Sea region are realised, this would mean an increase of the energy storage need in the region with 2.2 TWh over a two week horizon.

Trends in European Tourism Planning and Organisation

Trends in European Tourism Planning and Organisation

Implementing the European flood risk management plan

In response to the extreme flood events of recent decades, the European Union has released the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), which requires the creation of flood risk management plans. These plans do not yet exist in practice, as water management agencies have until 2015 to put them into action. This contribution will discuss two questions regarding the European flood risk management plan: First, how is the new instrument integrated into the various member states, particularly with respect to the scenario approach? Second, how prepared are the institutions for the collaborative planning paradigm of the flood risk management plan, particularly with respect to the river basin districts approach? Citing examples from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, this paper offers both a pessimistic and an optimistic perspective on the implementation of the new flood risk management instrument.

Quality of European Mental Health Services – the Special Situation in Eastern Europe

Mental health systems in European countries are undergoing reform. In Central and Eastern European countries, this means a shift from institutionally centred care to community based mental health services. This requires changes to ways of working and competencies, both in hospital settings and in the community, stradling specialist mental health services and primary care. A concern expressed by policy makers annd managers is the absence of information about quality of care and cost and outcomes of interventions, both of old and new services. Management information systems are rudimentary, relying on basic process data related to reimbursements, and practice guidelines are often not availlable or monitored. This hinders changes of practice, since there are no indicators that show areas of poor care, or improvements in outcome or satisfaction following change. Incentives often are perverse, reinforcing the status quo in the absence of information that would encourage change. The European Mental Health Action Plan is endorsed by all European Member States, and proposes actions to address these challenges. This requires a partnership between policy makers and professionals to agree practice guidelines and outcome indicators that are meaningful and feasible. EPA and WHO are considering steps to take this forward.

Study of the Energy Sector in the Progress Report for Kosovo from 2005 to 2014

This paper analyzes the energy sector, which is assessed yearly in the Progress Report, and which is also a criterion that Kosovo has to fulfill in order to become part of the Union. The paper will be structured around the points that are indicated in the Progress Report (since 2005), created by the European Commission, and the European Partnership Action Plan (EPAP), created by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. This paper will measure the progress and the challenges of the following points: 1. Energy production and its problems – including, but not limited to, technical problems of the main producer of the energy in the country, billing and funding problems, and so on; 2. Unbundling and privatization of KEC and its assets; 3. Use of renewable energy sources – the changes that are needed to be done in legislation for creation of this kind of sources; 4. The changes needed to be done in the regulatory framework in the energy sector in order to allow more flexible trade according to EU standards and those that Kosovo has agreed to by signing the Energy Community Treaty. Moreover the developments in the making of the Law on Energy Efficiency and other laws that are related to creation of institutions and/or agencies in developing the energy sector in Kosovo. 5. The progress on drafting the adequate legislation which deals with nuclear and radiation safety and protection. Last but not least, conclusions will be drafted based on the actual situation in Kosovo.

The EPA Guidance Project: Guidance for Mental Healthcare in Europe

Summary Background: The development of guidelines is an important and common method to assure and improve quality in mental healthcare in European countries. While guidelines have to fulfill predefined criteria such as methodological accuracy of evidence retrieval and assessment, and stakeholder involvement, the development of guidance was not standardized yet. Aim: In 2008, the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) initiated the EPA Guidance project in order to provide guidance in the field of European psychiatry and related fields for topics that are not dealt with by guideline developers – for instance due to lack of evidence or lack of funding. The first three series of EPA Guidance deal with diverse topics that are relevant to European mental healthcare, such as quality assurance for mental health services, post-graduate training in mental healthcare, trust in mental health services and mental health promotion. Results: EPA Guidance recommendations address current and future challenges for European psychiatry. They are developed in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) European Mental Health Action Plan.

Better Legislation and the Ordinary Legislative Procedure, with Particular Regard to First-Reading Agreements

This article examines how the first-reading (and second-reading) agreement, which is tending to become the predominant mode for the adoption of most EU legislation, works and the impact it has on drafting quality and the openness of the legislative process. It will also consider the European Parliament's administration's plans for a more scientific, fact-based approach to the legislative process.

Plenary 3: Equity across the European region: the European action plan for strengthening Public Health Services and Capacity Friday 21 November 2014, 16:45-17:45

Plenary 3: Equity across the European region: the European action plan for strengthening Public Health Services and Capacity Friday 21 November 2014, 16:45-17:45

Governance and stakeholder involvement in supranational health strategies: the forming of ‘Together for Health’ (EC) and ‘Health 2020’ (WHO)

Background How stakeholders are defined affects who is included in policy-making and what a health policy will look like. Currently, there are two major health strategies for Europe: ‘Together for Health’ by the European Commission (EC), and ‘Health 2020’ with the accompanying ‘European Action Plan’ (EAP) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe. These strategies have adopted a Health in All Policies (HiAP), and a whole of government/society approach, respectively, thereby recognising the large number of stakeholders that should be involved …

Equity across the European Region: the European Action Plan for Strengthening Public health Capacities and Services

Equity across the European Region: the European Action Plan for Strengthening Public health Capacities and Services

Factors influencing the value of houses: Estimates for the city of Cagliari, Italy

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between housing values and a set of determinants, related both to the urban environment and to the structural characteristics of the housing market, in the metropolitan area of Cagliari. In order to achieve this aim, a sample of residential properties spread across the urban context was taken into account. For every single residential unit we study the value of houses, identified as their estimated value, cadastral value, rent value, value supplied by the National Observatory on Real Estate Market, and finally sale value as related to factors which are identified as relevant variables in several studies concerning the real estate market.The adopted approach implies data collection concerning value and characteristics of houses. The resulting dataset is geocoded and spatially analyzed, in order to identify spatial autocorrelation of the value of houses and its correlations with respect to the characteristics of houses through the hedonic approach.The methodological approach can be easily replicated and exported with reference to other Italian and European urban contexts and results could be straightforwardly comparable. Policy implications of the findings could be a point of reference for future Italian and European planning policies concerning housing markets and the improvement of the quality of urban life.

The Archaeology of the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

This paper presents the results of research carried out for more than a decade at Vuelta de Obligado, San Pedro, north-east of Buenos Aires province. The objectives were to understand the dynamics of the strategy followed on the 1845 battlefield by the two groups who fought (Anglo-French and Argentine), and to assess the impact of formation processes on the results produced. This has been achieved through the use of several sources of information: the archaeological record, written documents, Argentine and European plans and sketches, as well as data provided by the current population.

European colonial architecture and town planning (c.1850–1970): a conference, a repository, a network, and an exhibition

Although research on colonial built heritage has been generating a growing literature since the 1980s, transnational and international aspects have tended to lag behind. Several new initiatives are...

EUropeanisation or Europeanisation of spatial planning?

This review paper revisits European spatial planning in terms of its EUropeanisation, meaning that planning becomes part of the EU policy-making state, and its Europeanisation which stands for mutual learning. The paper argues that by the mid twentieth century this Europeanisation had reached a point where it was natural for planners to want to be part of the agenda-building for European integration. However, their success in penetrating the decision agenda of the EU continues to be limited. While the EUropeanisation of planning has thus stalled, thanks amongst others to EU programmes, mutual learning and thus its Europeanisation has accelerated. Based on this, the paper constructs “business as usual” and “deep change” scenarios under which, by rethinking categories basic to their trade like space and territory, planners can get involved in reconfiguring European integration.

Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space

Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space

‘Must our cities remain ugly?’ – America's urban crisis and the European city: transatlantic perspectives on urban development, 1945–1970

This article explores the changing modes and mechanisms of the transatlantic dialogue between urban planners from the perspective of US urbanists. During the early post-war period, this dialogue intensified quickly. US planners were involved in their country's broad efforts to provide assistance to and build strong political ties with Western European nations. Accordingly, they assumed the role of tutors vis-à-vis their European peers. Due to urban America's apparent flaws and the success of European planning projects, however, their interest in Europe broadened considerably during the 1950s. Initially, the initiative of individuals remained crucial for the flow of planning information from Europe to the USA, and European immigrants and émigrés helped facilitate transatlantic transfers. Looking at Europe, American planners sought to address the shortcomings of the domestic practice of planning as they perceived them. Europe served as an argumentative tool for US experts who were eager to change the socio-political framework that limited their impact on urban development in their home country. Information about European planning was transmitted through a diverse set of channels and the biographies of many of the experts involved with transatlantic exchange remind us of the complex international planning networks that existed throughout the twentieth century. American planners' interest in Europe remained biased towards specific regions and topics. Nevertheless, US planners negotiated the way in which they brought their limited influence to bear on American urban environments in a transnational context. The framework that supported their integration into international planning discussions became increasingly institutionalized towards the end of the research period.

New life for American Downtowns? The 1958 international seminar on urban renewal and the travel of planning ideas in the North Atlantic World

This article scrutinizes the travel of planning ideas between Western Europe and America in the post-war decades by employing the 1958 International Seminar on Urban Renewal as a case study. As a joint venture between the International Federation for Housing and Planning and James M. Miller, a planning professor from Columbia University, this meeting was the first transatlantic conference after 1945 principally intended to (re-)introduce American planners to European reconstruction efforts. Therefore, the seminar testifies to an emerging interest of the wider US professional public in West European planning during the 1950s. When American planners struggled with deteriorating downtowns and suburbanization, they turned to Europe, where cities experimented with pedestrianization, mixed-use zoning and comprehensive planning in order to build their razed city centres anew. Although Americans were relatively unsuccessful in implementing these ideas in their cities, the events surrounding the 1958 seminar show that, even during a period of US hegemony, transatlantic connections were more than a mere ‘Americanization’ of European practice. Thus, this article argues for viewing transnational connections in the post-war North Atlantic World as a circular flow of ideas, in which Europeans and Americans alternately acted as borrowers and lenders, according to their variable perceptions of each other.

The future role of psychiatry in Europe – The WHO European Mental Health Action Plan

SummaryEuropean Member States of the WHO requested the preparation of a European Mental Health Action Plan, to be implemented by 2020, and complementary to the Global Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan. This Plan covers activities to improve population well-being and reduce the burden of mental disorders; respect the rights of people with mental disorders; and strengthen or establish access to respectful, safe and effective services. It builds on the Helsinki Declaration of 2005. The plan sets a challenging agenda for governments, especially at a time when needs are high but public spending budgets restricted. It also proposes actions relevant to the roles and responsibilities of mental health services, psychiatrists and other staff.

Report and Commentary on the Go-Around Safety Forum

The principal investigator of the Go-Around Safety Forum and its report was Mr. Blajev Tzvetomir; EUROCONTROL. This report describes the background, purpose and objective of this important forum which was initiated by the Flight Safety Foundation, the European Regions Airline Association, and EUROCONTROL. The forum took place on 18 June 2013 in EUROCONTROL Brussels. The purpose of the forum was to address the growing concerns with the dramatic increase in “approach and landing” accidents. The Go-Around Safety Forum was initiated to support the flight safety foundations Go-Around safety initiative and to help the early implementation of actions for the European Action Plan for the prevention of Runway Excursions (EAPPRE), issued in January 2013. The operational problem as stated in the Forum's report and in various articles in Aviation Week & Space Technology (March 24th, 2014) is the growing number of approach and landing accidents and incidents. Indeed, ICAO reports that there about two runway excursions per week worldwide. Approach and landing accidents account for 62% of all accidents with indications that this trend will continue if decisive action is not taken.

Central and Eastern Europe: Negotiating Influence in an Enlarged European Union

This article analyses the influence and status of the Central and Eastern European states within an enlarged European Union. It analyses two European Union policy negotiations: the Services Directive and the European Union's Financial Crisis Rescue Plan. Central to understanding the influence of a member state within negotiations are its economic size and knowledge of the Brussels policy-making apparatus. Nevertheless, as the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe have gained experience of the European Union policy negotiation process, they remain limited in their ability to influence outcomes. Therefore it can be concluded that while knowledge during negotiations is a necessary condition for successfully influencing outcome, alone it is insufficient because economic weight is particularly pertinent to those outcomes. As a result, the status of the new member states within the European Union is best described as being that of a junior partner, despite the assumed parity of Union membership.