A policy on the move? Spatial planning and State Actors in the post-devolutionary UK and Ireland

Bibliographic Data

ID4704960
AuthorsBen Clifford (0000-0002-5399-4956, Bartlett School of Planning University College London Wates House, 22 Gordon Street London WC1H 0QB), Janice Morphet (0000-0001-7056-6526, Bartlett School of Planning University College London Wates House, 22 Gordon Street London WC1H 0QB)
Year2015
Volume181
Issue1
Pages16-25
Publication date2015-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7398 • E-ISSN: 1475-4959
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/geoj.12064
OpenAlexW1657619173
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited44

Devolution has led to a dramatic restructuring of the UK state over the last 15 years. Planning is a devolved function and a concerted process of 'planning reform' has been implemented by devolved (and central) government since devolution, including a move from 'land-use' to 'spatial planning'. Despite some expectations of, and pressure for, policy divergence post devolution, we draw on findings of discourse analysis to demonstrate how there are common framings and understandings of the concept of 'spatial planning' present in the policy documents of all the UK administrations, and in Ireland. As such, we conceptualise spatial planning as what, after Peck and Theodore (2010, Geoforum 41 169-74), we might consider a 'policy on the move'. Policy mobility is a fundamentally geographical phenomenon and its presence here raises questions about the mechanisms by which spatial planning has been mobilised. Drawing on interview data, we highlight the role of civil servants who meet through the British-Irish Council's workstream on spatial planning and a forum known as the 'Five Administrations' meetings. The relational connections between these state actors suggest that they are key 'transfer agents' and their role helps explain some of the path dependency in planning reform post devolution

Devolution (biology · Divergence (linguistics · Environmental planning · Geography · Government (linguistics · Political science · Restructuring · Sociology · Spatial planning · State (computer science · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Rural development and sustainability · Urban Planning and Governance

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access