Municipal priorities in urban planning and local development

Abstract

The approval of the main documents and policies related to local spatial planning is around Europe a core competence of municipal assemblies. This area of policy ranks among those attracting considerable reform in recent decades, under the impact of European integration and of cultural changes in planning (Faludi 2007; Nadin and Stead 2008). The changing international planning culture increasingly refers to the principles of communicative planning. It calls for improved integration between policies, corresponding frequently with the development of alternative planning processes, entailing the development of strategic plans.