Climate & Environment

Spatial Planning

Meaning statusEstablishedSource recordDirect source requestedWhy these are different

Definition

Spatial planning is the public sector function of coordinating the spatial distribution of people, activities and land uses — through strategies, zoning, development control and infrastructure planning — at scales from national frameworks to local plans. It determines where housing, industry, transport, agriculture and nature go, mediating competing demands on land; sustainability enters through compact-city policies, greenbelt and ecosystem protection, transit-oriented development and climate-risk-informed zoning.

References

unhabitat.orgBulk import source

This reference provides supporting context for how “Spatial Planning” is defined and used.

www.espon.euBulk import source

Source imported for editorial provenance.

Overview

How it is used

The function structures urban and regional plans, environmental assessment of plans (SEA), marine spatial planning, and the New Urban Agenda's planning commitments.

Why it matters

Every sustainability goal eventually needs somewhere to happen; spatial planning decides whether there is room for it — or for its opposite.