Land-use planning and public participation in Norway and Poland – comparative study

Introduction This report is a comprehensive study of Norwegian and Polish spatial planning systems. It focuses on land-use part of planning and shows basic similarities and differences between those two planning policies. The aim of this report was to study and analyze the planning systems in both countries. During the preparation of this report, authors posed the following questions: – What kind of relations are there between all the planning levels stated in the legislation procedure as well as in practice? – Which planning documents concern land-use management? – What are the main trends of spatial management in urban areas? – How in practice does public participation in spatial planning process look? During the research authors attempted to answer those questions by using different methods. Firstly, professional documentation has been investigated. The main data sources were planning legislation and documents (including maps), as well as professional literature. Secondly, informal interviews were conducted. Fifteen interviews with planning researchers and with local and regional planners were carried out in Norway. Interviews were informal, however, they were based on previously prepared key-words list. Besides the analysis of the planning system in both countries, the report also includes two case-studies. In this report Oslo and Krakow were taken into consideration. In the report an emphasis was put also on environmental issues in spatial policy, public participation and privatization process of planning.