Spatial Planning System Research Articles

Basic Farmland Protection System in China: Changes, Conflicts and Prospects

Farmland protection is important for ensuring national food security and promoting sustainable socioeconomic development. China has a far lower amount of farmland area per capita than the global average. To improve farmland productivity, the Chinese government has implemented a basic farmland protection system (BFPS). A comprehensive and systematic analysis of the evolution mechanism of the BFPS, the failures of the BFPS and the key measures of the modern BFPS reform is lacking in the current literature. Based on a systematic review of the history of China’s BFPS, this study first summarizes the evolutionary mechanism of the BFPS, then analyzes the current conflicts faced by the BFPS on this basis, proposes several main breakthrough strategies for improving the BFPS and finally provides key ideas for further strengthening the development of the BFPS in the future. The results of this study show that China’s BFPS has gone through three development stages since 1963 and that there are differences in the main factors hindering the improvement in basic farmland productivity in the different stages. Correspondingly, the systems adopted to meet the demands for basic farmland protection are also different. The evolution of the BFPS is similar to a “scale” that constantly seeks balance between “system demand” and “system supply”. In the present stage, the main conflicts faced by China’s BFPS are between basic farmland quality and requirements for supplementary delimitation and production patterns; between basic farmland quantity, urban development and food security; and between basic farmland-use regulation and modern agriculture and the market economy. The Chinese government should further optimize the BFPS through improving the delimitation system, establishing a classified protection system and strengthening the basic farmland protection compensation system. To accelerate the establishment of a territorial spatial planning system in the future, the BFPS should also be fully integrated with the concept of an ecological civilization, be applied to resolve the contradiction between development and protection and be used to help improve the land-space-utilization control system, thus creating a unified development guide for national land.

Construction logic and implementation strategies of spatial planning system of China

In the context of Chinese central government’s major decision to establish a spatial planning system, this article starts by reviews and analyzes the history of the formation and evolution of spatial planning in China; then, on this basis, analyzes the administrative and technical logic concerning the construction of the new planning system in China; finally, probes into the legal construction issues of the new planning system and several implementation strategies, including the hierarchical and classified formulation and transmission mechanism of the spatial planning, the plan’s role of strategic guidance and baseline control, the formulation methods of Detailed Plan under the new planning system, the division of planning powers and the innovation of the planning documentation system, etc.

An attempt to locate the Russian spatial planning system within the European planning families

Since the end of the 1980s, several studies have been conducted aiming at understanding the heterogeneity of spatial planning traditions across Europe. Over the years, such studies became more comprehensive and included many European (and not only the European Union) countries. Nevertheless, some parts of Europe (e.g., the Western Balkans or the post-Soviet countries) usually remained excluded from the mentioned studies. To mitigate this gap, the paper focuses on the case of Russia. Using a twofold methodological approach, the paper firstly examines the attributes of Russian spatial planning (through a multi-layered analysis of the socio-economic and institutional settings, the evolution of spatial planning over a century, and contemporary planning instruments and procedures of plan-making), to then compare the attributes of the Russian spatial planning system to the core features of the European planning styles. As a result, the elements of multiple distinct spatial planning styles can be traced in Russian spatial planning: land use management and regional economic planning seem to prevail, whilst comprehensive integrated and urbanism traditions are less represented but not absent. Bearing in mind the complexity of the exercise, this contribution should be considered a preliminary attempt to enlarge the existing comparative studies beyond European countries.

Strategic leadership in spatial planning formulation: the practice in Hainan Province

Strategic planning of space is an important part of the spatial planning system. With its flexibility and comprehensive features, it can work with statutory planning to build a basic framework for future spatial development to meet various challenges in the future. It is forward-looking, strategic and leading. This paper analyzes the basic characteristics and development trends of global strategic planning of space. Taking the “Special Research in the Strategic Leadership of Territorial Spatial Planning in Hainan Province” as an example, based on the principle of setting goals, improving quality, keeping the bottom line, seeking motive powers, configuring systems and creating new points, it has a forward-looking insight into Hainan’s development trend, accurately formulates Hainan’s development strategy and scientifically constructs Hainan’s development pattern, and constantly promotes the closed loop of the planning subject of “Goal and Vision—Path Selection—Development Motivation—Communication and Decision—Evaluation and Optimization” in practice, and globally leads the formulation of “Territorial Spatial Planning of Hainan Province (2020–2035)”.

Italy vs. Poland: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Planning System Attitudes toward Adaptation to Climate Changes and Green Infrastructures

European spatial planners deal with two major concerns: adaptation to climate changes (ACC) and the design and management of green infrastructures (GIs). ACC calls for the renewal of spatial planning with constant appeals to the need to adequately prepare for extreme climate events. GIs deliver ecosystem services (ES), which consist of beneficial functions to living beings in terms of, for example, helping people adapt to climate change. An effective implementation of adaptation measures at the regional and sub-regional scale is based on an efficient and prompt spatial planning system and GIs management. In this paper, we aim at comparing the attitudes of Italian and Polish spatial planning systems with respect to the integration of concepts related to ACC and GIs. We describe commonalities and differences between the two spatial planning frameworks by scrutinizing regional plans adopted in Sardinia (Italy) and Wielkopolska (Poland). We found out a scarce consideration of both ACC and GIs planning and management. The findings suggest that the regional spatial planning tools need to be updated to be fully satisfactory in terms of ACC and GIs concepts.

A Geoportal Supporting Spatial Planning in Poland: Concept and Pilot Version

Due to the complexity of planning processes, as well as the desire to satisfy stakeholders and entities involved in spatial development and planning procedures, there is a clear need to create a platform for managing spatial development planning information. The aim of this paper is to present a project and pilot version of an urban platform (spatial planning geoportal), which is intended to be a solution used for the creation, analysis, and presentation of spatial data related to spatial planning. To implement the concept of the geoportal, one of the models used in systems and software engineering known as incremental execution was used, together with the language for documenting phases of an IT project – the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The concept includes a formal description of the geoportal functionalities using UML as well as the perspective of solution users and stakeholders. This paper also shows the functionality of the pilot version of the geoportal, which refers to spatial planning at the local level and local spatial development. The spatial planning geoportal presented in this paper adheres to the reform of spatial planning and is intended to help in conducting spatial policy, both at the local and central level. Establishment of the spatial planning geoportal may contribute to increasing the efficiency and quality of the spatial planning system in Poland, as well as other areas such as management of local government units, local and regional transport, and regional planning.

The Impact of Land-Use Structure on Carbon Emission in China

Research objectives: This paper discusses how to support the realization of carbon peak and carbon neutrality through the optimization of national spatial structures by establishing a relationship model between land-use structure and carbon emissions, and then provide theoretical and methodological support for the formulation of relevant policies and plans, as well as the evaluation of implementation effects. Research methods: grid analysis, GIS spatial analysis, double log linear regression model. Results: There is a strong correlation between the spatial structure of land and carbon emissions; the scale of construction land, especially industrial land, directly affects carbon emissions; if the area of construction land is doubled, CO2 emissions will increase by about 1.7 times. Conclusions: The potential of controlling carbon emission intensity through land structure at the urban level is great, and it is feasible to control carbon emission intensity through territorial spatial planning system. The control elements can be divided into the following levels: land supply control, land structure adjustment, land intensity constraint, and function adjustment of existing land.

Land-Use Planning Serves as a Critical Tool for Improving Resources and Environmental Carrying Capacity: A Review of Evaluation Methods and Application.

Research on resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) has been expanding since the early 20th century, and RECC has become a global concern and criterion for measuring regional sustainable development. Land-use planning (LUP) serves as a key tool of socioeconomic-ecological coordinated development and is deeply associated with RECC. In China, the newly established spatial planning system of 2019 identifies RECC assessment as the basis for spatial planning. However, after systematically reviewing the research history, conceptual evolution, and evaluation methods of RECC, we found that the existing approach of RECC has not addressed the impacts of stakeholders' behavior on RECC, in other words, the governance perspective has not been sufficiently discussed. Further, research on the interaction between RECC and LUP has been far from sufficient, hampering our deep understanding of the roles of LUP in improving RECC. In order to fill this gap, a new framework is proposed to explain the formation mechanism of RECC combining the governance considerations based on the social-ecological system (SES) framework, which has made contributions to enrich the research perspective of RECC and its theoretical and methods system. In addition, the interaction path between RECC and LUP is constructed according to the new RECC framework and a policy toolbox for improving RECC, which will provide a comprehensive and systematic practical application path for improving RECC and promoting regional socioeconomic-ecological coordinated sustainable development. The conclusion part discusses the future research topics and limitations for RECC and LUP.

Comprehensive exploration of spatial planning in Zhejiang Province

Zhejiang Province has been committed to the planning reform since the mid-1990s to adapt to economic and social transformation, urbanization and reform of administration system. The province has explored such comprehensive planning as urban system planning, integrated urban-rural planning, overall planning of county/city administrative area, and “multi-plan integration” planning in tandem. The efforts of Zhejiang have become one of the critical sources for developing our territorial spatial planning system after the government institutional reform. In the current practices of territorial spatial planning, Zhejiang has pursued further innovative exploration on optimizing urban-rural pattern, improving spatial quality, promoting spatial management and control, strengthening cross-border coordination, and developing intelligent planning in light of its foundations. By reviewing the history of Zhejiang’s comprehensive planning, the paper summarizes the overall development trend and related experiences in planning to provide insights and topics for further discussion for our current across-the-board territorial spatial planning.

Thoughts and exploration of spatial planning system in the new era

Spatial planning is a core requirement and a major initiative in the construction of ecological civilization in China, and the related work is in a process of gradual improvement and perfection. Based on the need of natural environment, urbanization and human well-being, this paper discusses the contents and technical directions of the current spatial planning in China from the national, regional and habitat levels, in the hope that it will be benefit current planning practice and provide references for further refinement of spatial planning system and technical routes in China.

The Spatial Planning System and Practice in Post-Socialist Romania: Between the Heritage of “Systematization” and Europenization

This paper offers an overview of the major processes and characteristics of the spatial planning system and practice in Romania. It is largely based on document analysis, proposing an evaluation of the major legislative documents regulating the field of spatial planning (the basic Law nr. 350 from 2001 for Spatial Planning and Urbanism, and additionally, the seven laws composing the National Spatial Planning Act). We focus on the description of the planning practices indetified in the official spatial planning documents from various spatial scales, from regional to local, by considering the interactions established between institutional, economic, political and cultural factors from the socialist period and during the post-socialist transition period. The article argues for the major effects related to a low-speed but obvious Europeanization process of the spatial planning institutions and practices expressed through the uncritical and unreflected introduction of neo-liberal ideas in the spatial planning legislation and practices. The resulting spatial planning system has taken a hybrid shape, represented by a mix of three major European planning styles: comprehensive integrated, land-use oriented and urbanistic planning styles.

Spatial planning systems in Europe

The paper aims to present the most significant classifications of spatial planning systems and territorial management in Europe. After the first attempts, from the end of the last century, at the beginning of the new millennium, extensive analyses of the spatial planning system were carried out through several ESPON projects. Their results were based on the dominance of one of four approaches: urbanism, land use, regional-economic or comprehensive integrated planning. Some countries have a combination of two or three approaches. The second research also refers to the development trends observed in the national systems of territorial management and spatial planning. Recent research include the classification of states according to the way of management, the level of integration of sectoral policies, the degree of adaptability in planning, as well as the degree of engagement of citizens in the planning process. Knowing the basic characteristics of the spatial planning system, as well as the classifications based on them, creates a clearer perspective of spatial planning as a socially important activity and makes it easier for every country to review and improve its planning practice.

Design and Application of GIS Technology in the Hierarchical Planning System of Public Landscape Space

With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, more and more people are pursuing spiritual satisfaction. Landscape planning and design need to adapt to people's needs based on the current situation. In response to the problems of slow landscape data processing speed and inaccurate landscape layout positioning in traditional public landscape spatial hierarchical planning systems, this paper would study the public landscape spatial hierarchical system based on Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, and use GIS technology to build a public landscape planning system to help better build public landscape. Through the experiment, it can be found that the use of GIS technology can effectively improve the speed of the system for landscape data processing and reduce the time required for processing. When the landscape data is 50GB, the processing time of the public landscape planning system based on GIS technology is 8.95 minutes, much faster than other systems. Based on GIS technology, urban public landscape design can be effectively implemented, helping to achieve a hierarchical layout of public landscapes during design.

Comparison of spatial planning systems in the Czech Republic and Poland. Selected aspects of sustainable development

Comparison of spatial planning systems in the Czech Republic and Poland. Selected aspects of sustainable development

Achieving energy transition through spatial planning - A case of onshore wind energy planning procedures optimization in China

Wind energy is expected to be an effective solution to mitigate climate change and environmental pollution with broad resource distribution, decarbonization characteristics, and mature technologies. However, the rapid expansion of wind energy may also bring about new issues in space allocation and land use conflicts. Integration research of wind energy into spatial planning framework is imperative. Based on the dynamic change theories and conventional energy planning process, this paper proposed a planning framework with four main phases: 1) preparation, analysis, and orientation; 2) model design; 3) optimization and systematization; 4) implementation and supervision. Under the new framework, the connotation of wind energy planning and existing issues have been re-examined, and the planning procedures have been reorganized to correspond to the Chinese spatial planning system and energy development targets. Principles, priority, and systematization measures were discussed to optimize the planning system from the organizational perspective. The newly constructed framework connected the wind energy development plan and spatial planning into well-organized procedures with definite principles, targets, implementation guidelines, and supervision mechanisms at each planning level. The outcome of the research can be utilized as a guideline strategically positioning of planning goals and content.

OBJECTIVES OF SPATIAL PLANNING IN SELECTED CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CASE STUDIES

The aim of this article is to determine how spatial planning tasks are addressed at the central level in the spatial planning systems of selected Central and Eastern European countries. The article is of a review nature. Based on the literature review, the central-level approaches to spatial planning in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, and Romania are characterized. Countries that are members of the European Union and countries where there is in-depth scientific literature on the indicated issue were selected. At the same time, for each country, the approaches analyzed were selected in a slightly different way, adapted to the systemic framework. The focus was on a synthetic content analysis of spatial planning documents at the central level.

ПРОСТОРОВА ЕКСКЛЮЗІЯ В МІСТАХ УКРАЇНИ: АНАЛІЗ І НАПРЯМИ ПРОТИДІЇ

Розкрито феномен просторової ексклюзії у містах України, що підкреслює багатовимірність явища, зокрема, те, що воно залежить від різних причин і проявляється в багатьох сферах соціальної взаємодії. Просторова ексклюзія – явище, коли частина простору (територія) обмежена в доступі, використанні, провадженні господарської діяльності суспільства (мешканців території), виражає фізичні, економічні, правові, соціально-політичні та інші види обмежень. Аналіз процесів, що протікають у містах, доводить, що просторова ексклюзія може виникати внаслідок спадкових проблем міст (місце розташування, природно-ландшафтні умови, наявні розпланування і функціональна структура, історична забудова), поглиблення структурно-галузевих деформацій (диспропорції в інвестуванні в розвиток територій, порушення масштабів нового будівництва, фінансова слабкість), а також з огляду на дію вагомих інституційних чинників (відокремлене вирішення соціально-економічних і просторового питань, відсутність комплексного освоєння територій, територіальні конфлікти і високий рівень ризиків для потенційних інвесторів). Серед таких бар’єрів центральна роль належить неузгодженості цілей соціально-економічного розвитку і просторового потенціалу в розбудові територій. Узагальнення й аналіз проявів просторової ексклюзії дозволяють окреслити головні завдання для їх усунення: підвищення мобільності мешканців міст за рахунок покращення ефективності функціонування транспортної інфраструктури регіону; посилення узгодженості житлової і просторової політик; розвиток соціальної та інженерної інфраструктур; оптимізація відносин міст і довкілля завдяки поліпшенню охорони навколишнього природного середовища, додержанню екологічних і безпекових вимог. З оглядку на зміни в системі просторового планування територіальних громад, при розробленні концепцій інтегрованого розвитку і комплексних планів громад запропоновано обов’язково враховувати при їх реалізації просторові пріоритети і фінансову спроможність територіальної громади; приймати узгоджені рішення (досягати розумних компромісів) учасниками процесу щодо пріоритетів розвитку міст; створювати основу для контролю за дотриманням домовленостей, забезпечувати відкритість, прозорість і загальну доступність матеріалів концепції інтегрованого розвитку і комплексних планів просторового розвитку територіальних громад на веб-порталі територіальної громади.

Implementing Climate Change Adaptation in Territory Spatial Planning Systems: Challenges and Approaches Based on Practices in Guiyang.

Integrating climate change adaptation into spatial planning has become a global goal in the field of spatial planning. Despite the various relevant policies proposed by governments, there is still a lack of common practice in the field of climate change research and territory spatial planning preparation and research in China. In this study, climate change adaptation planning in the territory spatial planning system (TSPS), based upon risk assessment, is explored using downscaled climate change prediction data (derived from CMIP5) and prefectural master territory spatial planning (MTSP) data from Guiyang. The study found that such practices, despite their feasibility, still face systemic challenges given the current planning system in China, e.g., the deficiency of climate change impact data and analyses, the absence of essential planning tools, and the unsuitability of the current planning system for the integration of adaptation actions. We propose corresponding approaches based on our empirical planning experience and discuss prospects for relevant research and planning.

Institutional Settings and Effects on Agricultural Land Conversion: A Global and Spatial Analysis of European Regions

Spatial planning systems and institutions have a significant role in managing non-agricultural land growth in Europe and the assessment of how their implementation impacts on agricultural land consumption is of great significance for policy and institutional improvement. Reducing the area of agricultural land taken for urban development, or eliminating such conversion, is an international policy priority aiming to maintain the amount and quality of land resources currently available for food production and sustainable development. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of land use planning systems and institutional settings on urban conversion of agricultural land in the 265 NUTS2 level EU27 and UK regions. Taking these regions as the unit of our analysis, the research developed and used global and local econometrics models to estimate the effect based on socio-economic, institutional and land use data for the 2000–2018 period. There is limited research focusing on the impacts of institutional settings and planning types of the European countries on the conversion of agricultural land. Furthermore, existing research has not considered the spatial relationships with the determinants of agricultural land conversion and the response variable, therefore, our research aimed to contribute to the literature on the subject. The results showed that the types of spatial planning systems and institution variables significantly impact the conversion of agricultural land to urban uses. Socio-economic indicators and areas of agricultural and urban land have significant impact on agricultural land conversion for any type of spatial planning system. A further result was that decentralization and political fragmentation were positively associated with agricultural land conversion while quality of regional government and governance was negatively associated. A local regression model was assessed to explore the different spatial patterns of the relationships driving agricultural land conversion. The main empirical finding from this model was that there was spatial variation of driving factors of agricultural land conversion in Europe.

Using coupled people-gravity coordination as a measurement method and optimization strategy for urban integration: Use the Wuhan metropolitan area as an illustration

Inter-city population movement and attractiveness are two crucial representations for their examination. Measurement of coordination and structural optimization within urban integration zones are vital subjects in the context of regional integration. In order to measure the degree of coordination between population flow and attractiveness among cities in urban integration areas, this paper first combines the gravitational force model and the coupling coordination degree model; it then uses the urban integration areas around Wuhan as an example and analyzes the population flow and coordination between Wuhan and the neighboring cities based on the multi-year Unicom signaling data. In a targeted manner, it offers the optimization plan for each city based on the amount of cooperation. The results show that: (1) there is a significant difference between Wuhan and its neighboring cities in terms of population flow intensity, and (2) Wuhan’s urban integration areas’ overall coordination of population flow is unsatisfactory, with 23.08%, 46.15%, and 30.77% of the total number of cities demonstrating high, medium, and low coordination of population flow and urban attractiveness respectively. Based on the degree of flow coordination, four different types of development methods are provided to meet the development needs of various districts: all-around deep and coordinated development, increased flow intensity, increased attraction strength, and increased flow intensity and attraction strength. This research will help advance research on the coordination level of urban integration areas, utilize big data in territorial spatial planning systems, and support strategic decision-making in metropolitan areas.