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The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the role of place branding, specifically at the regional scale, as an instrument for the attainment of strategic spatial planning goals. It also aims to contribute to the academic debate on place branding by discussing its relevance and effectiveness in supporting economic and social spatial realignment through civic participation and the shaping of clearly envisioned agreed futures.

Exploratory in nature, this paper’s theoretical exploration is developed by detailing relevant findings from a case study on the significance of a regional branding initiative, integrated in a wider planning strategy for northern Portugal (NUTS II). In conducting this exploratory research, primary data were gathered through 16 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with key regional actors and organizations with a stake (and expertise) in the region.

Findings show the key strategic domains in which the region excels. These domains could fuel a potential regional branding initiative. However, the key regional actors interviewed agree that the diverse and fragmented regional assets and the socioeconomic scenario all require and yet hinder regional coordination efforts. In addition, territorial reorganization and the definition of a regional economic model, plus decentralization of decision-making and the establishment of leadership, are imperative for the effectiveness of a regional branding strategy aligned with the ongoing strategic spatial planning initiatives.

Managerial implications of integrating the opinions and perspectives of regional actors into a potential place-branding initiative as strategic spatial planning instrument include improving socio-spatial and spatial-economic condition of the region and envisioning shared futures.

By guiding the thoughts of scholars, practitioners and policymakers towards a strategic spatial planning approach to place branding, the paper contributes to the advancement and maturation of the place-branding field, by lending a more strategic approach and geographical/spatial consciousness to the process of place branding. The paper also sheds light on the challenges and complexity of branding regions, a scale of analysis seldom explored in place-branding literature.

This paper aims to firstly depict the theoretical links between place branding and strategic spatial planning to provide further theoretical and conceptual foundations. Secondly, it aims to explore the roots of place branding theory and practice in Portugal, as well as how place branding has been approached (or not) in spatial development plans, strategic initiatives and policy documents by stating the territorial, spatial-economic and sectoral development trajectories for the country and its northern region.

A content analysis of 20 spatial development plans, strategies and policy documents (of 30 identified), published by Portuguese authorities, the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, mainly for the period between 2014 and 2020, has been used.

Empirical evidence shows that tourism-oriented promotion initiatives, investment-oriented marketing campaigns and communication strategies uniquely supported by visual elements and aesthetic values (e.g. logos and slogans) deserve more attention from authorities in charge of spatial planning and policy-making. Place branding is an absent term. Moreover, there is inconsistency between current research and practice on place branding and how it has been incorporated in strategic spatial planning at EU, national and regional levels.

Whilst some of the research findings are place-specific (Portugal and its northern region), this exploratory paper aims to present a better understanding of the way in which places and branding can be conceptually addressed, primarily by assigning a spatial dimension to the idea of branding places and its alignment with strategic spatial planning and spatial plan-making.

This paper critically explores the actual or potential roles of place branding as an instrument for the attainment of strategic spatial planning goals through its integration in plan and policy-making. By guiding the attention of academics, practitioners and policymakers towards a strategic spatially oriented approach to place branding, the paper brings an alternative view to the scholarly and professional debate on place branding.

Drawing on changes in the nature of European metropolitan development planning in general, and the example of the Randstad, in particular, the purpose of this paper is to argue for an improved interconnectedness between regions and their public and private sector agencies. These should be linked to “flows of social and economic interaction”, and, as such, complement conventional notions of “bounded spaces” and “nested territorial jurisdictions”. This is in response to the now crucial question for metropolitan planning of how to develop and renew effective institutional capacity to deal with the increasing spatial complexities at regional or metropolitan level.

The paper is a case study‐based theoretical review of types of metropolitan planning, drawing on original policy documents and interviews with relevant policymakers.

It is shown that the answer to addressing the challenges of development planning at the city‐regional level is not primarily to enlarge the steering powers of regional planning per se, but to broaden its strategic network capacity through enlarging the coordinative and communicative intelligence of the intermediate regional planning bodies. This allows better responsiveness to the evident transformation processes within spatial development planning as such, with a growing emphasis on a strategic element within it. This, again, is more in line with the changeability of urban space.

The paper shows that the notion of spatial development planning has made a strong revival in the last ten years. It has been spatial planning that has attracted the key focus of debate, more so than adjacent policy‐making sectors (economic policy in particular).

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of how ecological considerations can be integrated into campus strategic and statutory spatial planning. A process of developing ecological objectives and guidelines for inclusion in campus strategic and statutory spatial plans is presented.

This case study introduces a three-phase ecological assessment process developed and applied to the Technion – IIT campus. Ecological considerations are reviewed in multiple campus strategic and spatial plans (primarily in North America and Europe) and in institutional sustainability guidelines; biodiversity and ecosystem service surveys of the campus are conducted and considered with regard to planning; university administrative structures that enable the implementation of ecological planning guidelines are also assessed.

Ecological considerations (biodiversity conservation, habitat preservation and ecosystem integrity) play a relatively minor role in sustainability planning on university campuses. The concepts of connectivity and compactness are applied broadly, but generally refer to social and educational considerations. Physical planning provides an opportunity for integrating ecological priorities into the university’s mission.

Some of the insights may not be generalizable, so it is crucial to continue accumulating similar studies. It is crucial, too, to conduct follow-up research, reporting on the ecological outcomes of plan implementation.

Ecological stewardship is commensurate with the sustainability commitments of universities. Considering their spatial extent and diverse locations, universities can assume an important role in ecological conservation.

Relatively little attention has been given to ecological considerations (biodiversity, ecological integrity and ecosystem services) in campus plans and sustainability documents. This paper suggests how universities can move towards fulfilling a role as ecological stewards through strategic and spatial planning.

This paper aims to explain the impact of spatial planning regulations in the development of hotels in Bali, particularly as regards environmental damage. It then analyzes the factors that cause spatial planning to fail to prevent environmental damage.

This paper is based on both fieldwork and library research, and a broadly socio-legal approach is adopted, involving a combination of doctrinal research and empirical legal method.

This paper finds that interrelated legal, political and economic factors contribute to this failure, including conflicting regulations on the review and amendment of spatial plans, the pursuance of economic enrichment and an unsustainable approach to economic development. Although some or even all of these factors may have seemed obvious from the start, because they are common causes of regulatory failure, this paper demonstrates empirically that they are exacerbated and made more challenging because of the interrelationship between legal, political and economic factors.

Given the existence of intertwined legal, political and economic factors behind the regulatory failure of spatial planning, more studies need to be undertaken to restore spatial planning objectives as a means of preventing tourism projects in Bali from damaging the environment.

The author proposes a reform to make spatial planning regulations more effective, particularly in preventing environmental damage by tourism projects.

The paper aims to present a pedagogical model tailored to the development of key competences in the urban planning profession in post-socialist transitional countries that is based on the creation of an integrated platform for dialogue and the development of professional competences as part of the process, whereby students produce their final projects.

The pedagogical model is based on the principles of education for sustainable development and focuses on the establishment of a repeatable platform for dialogue between students and mentors, members of the mentoring team, the local community, external members of the consulting team of experts and foreign master’s degree programmes, in the process of producing students’ projects. The proposed method addresses several dimensions, including: the education of students, teachers, professionals and local experts, the establishment of a network for cooperation and collaboration and the delivery of practical and usable results.

The paper provides a comparative overview of the pedagogical model’s application in producing the final master’s degree projects of three generations of students, as well as its alignment with the needs of re-defining the role and reach of the profession of urban planner in an environment of post-socialist transition. The model was improved, enhanced and optimised through this process and then corroborated with its practical implementation.

The innovative pedagogical model comprises an instrument to enhance the professional capacities of all participants in the production of final master’s projects: academics, practitioners and future professionals/students, through discussions of topical issues, innovative modes of work and new professional responses grounded in the local context and tested by a broad range of stakeholders. It is of particular importance for countries in transition experiencing a shift in the paradigm of professional action, especially as the proposed pedagogical model establishes a problem-solving platform that surpasses academia.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the framework of the EU cohesion policy 2014-2020 with respect to its potential to secure not only the resources necessary for climate action in EU regions but also an integrated climate adaptation approach. It also examines the prospects for Greek regions with respect to climate adaptation.

Using the regional policy approach as it is generally formulated and applied in the context of the EU cohesion policy, this paper seeks to identify the policy objectives, the funding opportunities and the conditionalities for climate adaptation action. It also examines the above-mentioned elements for Greek regions.

The context of the EU cohesion policy constitutes a necessary but not sufficient condition for developing and implementing successful regional adaptation strategies. The process and content of regional policies are of significant importance in order for this context to be fully exploited.

Since this is the first time that climate adaptation at the regional level is directly addressed by cohesion policy, there is not much evidence on this issue, at least for Greek regions.

The approach followed in this paper may constitute a useful contribution to the formulation of regional adaptation strategies. This is of particular importance as climate adaptation, together with risk prevention, is one of the key thematic objectives of the EU cohesion policy 2014-2020.

This paper makes an original contribution by introducing and explaining a new challenging issue for the regional policies agenda, namely, the climate adaptation strategy, and stresses the need for a comprehensive approach to it, especially for Greek regions.

This paper aims to make use of participatory scenarios to assess the multiple aspects of space with the help of future scenarios.

This paper makes an attempt to appreciate multiple representations of space where past and present experiences merge with future desires and concerns. With the help of one case study, Izmir (Turkey), where a vision of democratic city is developed, the paper shows how future scenarios can provide deeper and richer appreciation of present space, thereby challenging existing spatial practices.

The participatory approach used in the development of scenarios suggests interesting implications to operationalise a more relational concept of space in real planning strategies.

The use of scenarios in strategic planning to identify future possibilities and to make stakeholders aware of uncertainties has been increasingly recognised in planning research and practice.

The appreciation of the multiple aspects of space with the help of future scenarios would enrich the spatial planning practice.

The use of participatory approach to preparing scenarios enables participants to make use of interactive method in social and political discourses.

The use of scenarios to examine various aspects of space that may be relevant in spatial planning has not received similar attention. The latter poses methodological as well as practical challenges for researchers. This paper is an attempt to do just that.

Spatial planning is globally identified as an effective strategy for providing climate change adaptation needs. However, there is a dearth of literature on how spatial planning relates to climate change control in Ghana, particularly at the local level. Hence, this paper aims to investigate whether spatial planning plays a significant role in the control of climate change and the adaptive capacities at the local level.

The authors adopt a mixed-method approach, where both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained using an interview guide and survey, respectively. The authors analyze the data using a qualitative content analysis method and descriptive statistics.

The results show that spatial planning plays an important role in climate change adaptation, though in a limited way. The physical planning department at the municipal level has varying amounts of capacities across various determinants, but there are opportunities for improving the capacity of the department.

The authors provide empirical evidence to support the need to prioritize spatial planning as a strategy for dealing with the impacts of climate change and the building of capacities at the national and community levels for improved adaptive capacity.

The transition to a low carbon future is an emerging challenge and requires the planning and designing of sustainable energy landscapes – landscapes that provide renewable energy while safeguarding the supply of other ecosystem services. The aim of this paper is to present the application of an ecosystem services trade-off assessment in the development of sustainable energy landscapes for long-term strategic planning in a case study in Schouwen-Duivenland, The Netherlands.

The application consists in three activities: in (1) stakeholder mapping hot spots of ecosystem services and renewable energy technologies in a workshop, (2) landscape design principles being discussed by a focus group, (3) experts gathering the information and proceeding with an assessment of the potential synergies and trade-offs.

The case study indicates that (1) deploying the ecosystem services framework in planning and design can enhance the development of sustainable energy landscapes, (2) diversified and accurate spatial reference systems advance the trade-off analysis of both regulating and cultural ecosystem services and (3) the involvement of local stakeholders can advance the trade-off analysis and, ultimately, facilitates the transition to a low-carbon future with sustainable energy landscapes.

The originality of this research lies in the creation of an approach for the deployment of ecosystem services in the planning and design of energy transition. This is useful to advance energy transition by enhancing research methods, by providing methods useful for planners and designers and by supporting communities pursuing energy self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner.