Neo-liberalization Processes and Spatial Planning in France, Germany, and the Netherlands: An Exploration

Bas Waterhout, Frank Othengrafen and Olivier Sykes

Planning Practice & Research, 2013, vol. 28, issue 1, 141-159

Abstract: 'Is the English experience distinctive?' It is this question, asked by the guest editors of this Special Issue, that triggered this article focusing on the impact of neo-liberal ideologies on planning in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The multi-faceted concept of neo-liberalism is used here as a perspective to interpret the recent developments in the three countries. Proposed changes to planning in England are also briefly considered. Although there are clear differences in the magnitude and actual manifestation of neo-liberalism in planning across the analyzed countries, with England clearly showing some of the more radical and disruptive effects, there seems to be a clear direction in which planning in North West Europe is heading. Due to processes of globalization, individualization, and Europeanization, questions also arise in each country regarding the position and objectives of planning. Neo-liberalization processes tend to further accentuate these questions as planning more often than not is grounded on a different set of principles. Yet, this does not necessarily completely dissociate planning from neo-liberalism. In particular, the French and German experiences indicate that even in broadly 'neo-liberal times', there is still a demand for spatial planning.

Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02697459.2012.699261 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cpprxx:v:28:y:2013:i:1:p:141-159

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cppr20

DOI: 10.1080/02697459.2012.699261

Access Statistics for this article

Planning Practice & Research is currently edited by Vincent Nadin

More articles in Planning Practice & Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().