Establishment of a New Planning System in Ukraine: Institutional Change Between Europeanization and Post-Socialist Path Dependence

Abstract

Most research on planning systems in Europe focused on North and West Europe, with limited interest in Central Europe and even less attention to ‘post-socialist’ Europe. This study examines the recent reform of spatial planning in Ukraine by developing a new model of institutional change. Based on the empirical findings, supported by the results of an adapted ESPON-COMPASS questionnaire, we argue that Ukraine has undergone a fundamental transformation of the planning system. The research contributes to the theoretical debate on international comparative planning research by establishing a new approach to studying institutional change in planning systems.