In the planning literature there has been an increased interest in relational geography developed in the fields of human geography and sociology of planning (Healey, 2004, 2007; Davoudi & Strange, 2009).  Planning theorists have analysed conceptions of space and place in strategic spatial planning processes at national, subnational and regional scales, and found that planning practice yet has to embrace the ideas of relational geography fully (Healey, 2004, 2007; Davoudi & Strange, 2009).  Evidence suggests that when planning practice has tried to capture the changing understandings of spatiality in representations of space, it is often done through what Davoudi & Strange (2009) refer to as ‘fuzzy maps’.  However, so far only little attention has been paid to the spatial politics embedded in these new fuzzy maps.  Davoudi & Strange (2009) show how fuzzy maps of devolved nations in the UK and English regions have effectively depoliticised spatial strategy-making processes in order to avoid potential political tensions.  This raises important questions about relational geography’s important role in building support for spatial strategies, as argued by its proponents in the planning literature (Healey, 2004, 2007).

This paper uses the case of strategic spatial planning in Denmark to explore how conceptions of space and place are changing in a context of changing administrative structures and rescaling of planning powers.  Following Jensen & Richardson’s (2003) argument that spatial representations should be understood as contested rather than outputs of rational analyses, the paper analyses how the spatial politics of new governance landscapes are transferred into spatial representations of new spaces of planning emerging at subnational scales.  The paper seeks to unpack the underlying rationalities of spatial representations in Danish strategic spatial planning, and their important role in foregrounding certain ways of thinking about strategic spatial planning, whilst bracketing others (Jensen & Richardson, 2003).  The analysis builds on interviews with planners involved in strategic spatial planning at national and subnational scales together with recent spatial representations prepared at these scales.

The case study illustrates how spatial politics in strategy-making significantly affect conceptions of space and place in spatial representations.  Planners involved in strategy-making seek actively to avoid or at least work their way around spatial politics, which are considered a hindrance for spatial strategy-making.  Returning to objective measures in order to categorise towns in nested hierarchies, and preparing fuzzy spatial representations camouflaging lack of consensus represent some of the strategies applied by planners to depoliticise processes of spatial strategy-making and avoid spatial politics.  This suggests that fuzzy spatial representations do not necessarily reflect a relational understanding of spatiality, as assumed in the planning literature, but merely reflect conscious strategies for handling spatial politics in strategy-making.

References

Davoudi, S. & Strange, I. (eds) (2009) Conceptions of space and place in strategic spatial planning, (London: Routledge). 

Healey, P. (2007) Urban complexity and spatial strategies: towards a relational planning for our times, (London: Routledge).

Healey, P. (2004) The treatment of space and place in the new strategic spatial planning in Europe, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 28(1), pp. 45-67.

Jensen, O.B. & Richardson, T. (2003) Being on the map: the new iconographies of power over European space, International Planning Studies, 8(1), pp. 9-34.