Bringing together an interdisciplinary team from across the EU, this book connects elements of cultural and planning theories to explain differences and peculiarities among EU member states. A 'culturized planning model' is introduced to consider the 'rules of the game': how culture affects planning practices not only on an explicit 'surface' but also on a 'hidden' implicit level. The model consists of three analytical dimensions: 'planning artifacts', 'planning environment' and 'societal environment'. This book adopts these dimensions to compare planning cultures of different European...

If planning is understood to be about the nature of place, about the way in which we use land, and about the physical expression of the ordering of society, then it becomes apparent that planning as an activity cannot possibly be divorced from the general cultural traditions that inform it. By adopting theoretical approaches from the fields of management studies, cultural studies and anthropology, and by using culture as an organising principle, this book develops an innovative framework which provides better insights into what culture is about, what the relations are between culture and...

In recent years, European societies and territories have witnessed the spatial impacts of a severe financial and socio-economic crisis. This book builds on the current debate concerning how cities and urban regions and their citizens deal with the consequences of the recent financial and socio-economic crisis. Cities in Crisis examines the political and administrative implications of austerity measures applied in southern European cities. These include cuts in local public spending and the processes of privatization of local public assets, as well as issues related to the...