SPATIAL SYNERGIES - Synergies between formal and informal planning as a key concept towards spatial conflicts – the case of tourism-oriented railway development in the Peloponnese

Abstract

Formal planning instruments and procedures in Greece have often been unpopular and ineffective in solving spatial conflicts such as urban sprawl or transport congestion. Thus, a non-legally binding supplement is often considered highly effective. In the particular case of spatial and railway development in Patras, Greece, this was triggered by the implementation of an informal planning method (the Test Planning Process). In this case, the aim was to explore alternative and feasible scenarios towards a common solution and stimulate joint responsibility in decision-making, since the formal procedures and plans failed to achieve progress, promoting for almost two decades the infeasible solution of the construction of an urban tunnel. Even though informal planning resulted in a spectrum of alternative ideas, fostering the public discussion, institutional conflicts based on hierarchical mandates and private interests in favour of the urban tunnel continued. Hence, this questions the efficacy of existing formal planning instruments, including those of public participation, in dealing with such complex planning tasks, while also raising open questions about the interplay between formal and informal planning, especially in environments with only a partially developed culture in planning cooperation. In the light of this exploration, Greece becomes a significant spatial laboratory to test if and how synergies between formal and informal planning processes can emerge and influence spatial conflicts. The territorial scope focuses on the Peloponnese Peninsula and concerns the multi-functional concept of tourism-oriented railway development. The region illustrates a potential in culture, history, landscape, architecture and tourism infrastructure in the vicinity of a diverse railway network, while an upward trend in tourism for the country (28.4 Mio arrivals, 2016) offers the opportunity for new tourism products and models. Additionally, the railway as a means of transport addresses the requirements of EU infrastructure policies for environmentally friendly transport infrastructure, economic development, social and territorial cohesion on international, national regional and local levels. Greece holds a strategic position in the European core network (ΤΕΝ-Τ, Orient-East Med. Corridor), a component of which is also the strategic transport corridor known as PATHE (Patras- Athens- Thessaloniki- Eidomeni). Concerning the Peloponnese, this means that only the northern part from Athens to Patras has a funding priority according to EU Policies. The concept of this thesis is to explore the reactivation of the railway network as a backbone of an integral public transport system that supports a slow and responsible model of tourism towards sustainable spatial development, highlighting the role of the railway combined with tourism. In order to boost multi-functional concepts, such as that of tourism-oriented development in the Peloponnese, there is need for a revision of the formal instruments towards intersectoral and multi-level collaboration, since multiple adversarial interests emerge. The hypothesis concentrates on the fact that synergies between formal and informal planning are achieved when based on reciprocal learning processes. This underlines the elements of complementarity and embeddedness of informal planning in formal planning procedures, which is not a given actuality even in environments with a comprehensive planning culture. To explore this hypothesis, the methodology based on qualitative data analysis aims to formulate and test an interpretative model regarding regional design strategies in the Peloponnese, focusing on the railway corridor that currently possesses relatively important residential and tourism nodes. The thinking pattern for this model regarding the exploration of hypotheses and problem-solving processes finds its roots in the action-oriented planning approach. Taking into consideration the existing spatial conditions of the region, the proposed tourism-oriented scenarios and joint processes between formal and informal responsibility offer an incentive to discover more open issues concerning sustainable spatial development in a short- and long - term horizon. The Peloponnese Peninsula therefore indicates potential for spatial development, rather than a specific problem. This highlights the proactive role of planning based on carefully designed strategies versus differing and fast-track solutions. Since the region still faces several socioeconomic challenges, such as in public transport, industry or demographics, the multi-functional concept of tourism-oriented railway development provides the chance to develop strategies towards sustainable regional development. This entails politicians and spatial planners shifting their mindsets about planning processes to improve decision- making in complex planning tasks, which can boost the socioeconomic rehabilitation of the Peloponnese and, in turn, the desired decentralisation of supersaturated urban areas such as Athens. In other words, the concept of ‘spatial synergies’ among the actors, the planning process and content, becomes a key approach for spatial conflicts both in Greece and other countries that face similar problems of spatial development.