Convergence and Policy Transfer: An Examination of the Extent to which Approaches to Spatial Planning have Converged within the Context of an Enlarged EU

The paper explores the evolution of approaches to spatial planning within the enlarged European Union (EU) and seeks to assess the extent to which such approaches have converged. The context for the evolution of the discipline is examined before the extent of convergence is assessed on the basis of case studies examining spatial policy in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The assessment reveals a certain ambiguity where a significant degree of convergence in approach and practice can be detected until closer examination raises the question of how far such convergence has gone beyond the level of rhetoric. Evidence from the case studies also suggests that a lacuna between rhetoric and reality appears to be an emerging characteristic of spatial planning throughout the EU. In this context the need for and value of context sensitive local solutions is clear.