The conversion of spatial planning in Denmark: Changes in national and regional planning policies and governance structures

Danish spatial planning has been increasingly subjected to significant structural, functional and conceptual reorientations over the past two decades. The comprehensive hierarchical framework wherein planning policies and practices used to operate became considerably modified after the implementation of a local government reform back in 2007. The reform abolished the county level, which implied the re-scaling of planning policies, functions and responsibilities to municipal and national levels. This situation brought about radical shifts concerning the implementation of land-use tasks and the performance of institutional arrangements within and beyond the planning system. Based on an analysis concerned with these structural changes, the paper delves into the reorientation of spatial planning in Denmark in terms of the evolving conception of planning policies at different territorial scales, the changing role of planning in catering to growth and development matters, and the shifting institutional arrangements associated with the planning domain.