Spatial Planning Instruments and the Environment (SPINE)

SPINE Spatial Planning INstruments and the Environment

The OECD SPINE project

Spatial planning and land-use policies are key for green growth People, economic activity, and environmental amenities are unevenly distributed across space. The majority of environmental externalities are also spatially explicit. Spatial planning, the public-policy toolbox used to alter their distribution, is one of the domains where the tensions between economic, social and environmental objectives are particularly acute. These tensions are, furthermore, expected to escalate as demand for housing, energy, food, fibre, but also ecosystem services, are rapidly growing.

Carefully designed spatial-planning instruments can play a critical role in balancing these tensions. However, as spatial and land-use policies currently in place have often been blamed for being ineffective or for inducing undesirable environmental and economic side effects, the potential of policy reforms is significant.

SPINE is a two-track project The SPINE project aims to assess the environmental and economic effectiveness of spatial and land-use planning instruments, as well as the potential gains from relevant policy reforms. Based on refined geospatial data and a wide array of analytical and empirical methods, the project will shed light on the effects of land-use patterns and spatial-planning instruments on economic development, public finance and the environment.

The project will comprise two tracks: Track 1 will focus on foundational work, while Track 2 will be built around spatially explicit empirical analyses.

1

Foundational track

Analytical framework This track will deliver two products. The first piece of work will be a coherent analytical framework for the study of the interactions between spatial planning, land-use patterns, the economy and the environment. The framework will describe the major linkages between land-use patterns and the economic and environmental systems. It will also explain how spatial-planning and land-use policies can address the economic and environmental challenges posed by land-use changes, and identify the potential social and economic consequences of these policies.

Inventory and typology of spatial-planning systems The second contribution of this track will be an inventory and typology of the spatial planning systems and instruments used in OECD countries. This typology will reflect the division of powers and responsibilities among different levels of governance (institutionally and territorially) and, if possible, characterise spatial planning instruments in terms of their objectives (raising revenue, wealth redistribution, environmental, social), type of instrument used (command-and-control vs. market-based) and stringency.

2

Empirical track

This track will consist of a series of spatially explicit empirical analyses, investigating the effects of land-use patterns and spatial policies on economic growth and the environment. The track will also involve the collection and processing of detailed geospatial data, which are a prerequisite for the performance of this work. The analyses will be based on cross-country comparisons or case studies, depending on the topic of interest and data availability.

Thematic areas The thematic areas below have been identified as potentially interesting topics for empirical work undertaken in the context of SPINE. For each thematic area, a brief summary of the objectives of the analysis and the expected policy implications is provided.

1. Urban patterns, CO2 emissions and spatial-planning instruments Descriptive analyses of land-use patterns in OECD countries will shed light on the relationship between urban patterns, CO2 emissions and the use of specific spatial-policy instruments. The role of the division of power and planning competences among different levels of government on land-use patterns and CO2 emissions will also be investigated.

2.

Effects of urban structure on human exposure to local air pollution

This analysis will investigate the effects of urban structure on local concentrations of various air pollutants and the

The project will highlight land-use and transportpolicy reforms which could be

corresponding human exposure. It will highlight land-use and

implemented to

transport policy reforms to address local air-pollution problems.

address local airpollution problems.

3.

Effects of open-space conservation on urban development and local public finance

This area will focus on the effects of open-space conservation on housing prices, development density, tax base, and total land values. It will describe the implications of the identified effects for local public finance and spatial and land-use policy.

4.

Effectiveness of spatial policies for natural-disaster risks and adaptability to climate change

This analysis will evaluate the effectiveness of spatial policies used for natural risk mitigation and attempt to quantify their direct and indirect costs. It will also assess the adaptability of current policies to climate-change-induced alterations of naturaldisaster frequency and severity and propose policy reforms which would enhance their adaptability.

5.

Effectiveness of stringent land-use controls for nature conservation

The focal point of this area will be the assessment of the environmental effectiveness of land-use controls for nature conservation and the evaluation of the costs and benefits of their

The project will

implementation. Implications for improving the environmental

evaluate the

and economic performance of nature conservation instruments

effectiveness of spatial

through policy reforms will also be drawn.

6.

Side effects of nature conservation policies in peri-urban areas

Case studies will reveal how side effects of nature conservation policies (e.g. urban development at the border of designated areas) are manifested and which land-use policies are more likely to trigger them. On this basis, spatial policy reforms which could prevent the induction of these side-effects or mitigate their consequences will be highlighted.

policies used for natural risk mitigation and attempt to quantify their direct and indirect costs.

SPINE Spatial Planning INstruments and the Environment

More information Walid Oueslati Team Leader Empirical Policy Analysis Email: Walid.Oueslati@oecd.org www.oecd.org/environment/ tools-evaluation/ Photos © diamant24/Shutterstock.com © Jimmy Tran/Shutterstock.com © lmeleca (Leonid Meleca)/Shutterstock.com © De Visu/Shutterstock.com © Andreiorlov | Dreamstime.com © Maciej Bledowski | Dreamstime.com