- Internal Growth: Can strategic planning procedures help to achieve it?    232 kb by    Schoenwandt, Walter & Jung, Wolfgang & Bader, Johannes | jung@igp.uni-stuttgart.de    Short Outline In the research project we apply a 'Problems-First approach'. This means not to start with methods, instruments or theories but with (socially constructed) problems particularly identifying the processes that cause land consumption. Abstract Internal growth: can strategic planning procedures help to achieve it? Land consumption and urban sprawl is not a single fold problem but effect of a multitude of economic, demographic, financial, and social processes. To handle these processes, spatial planning -in particular on the regional level- has to develop strategies to deal with the complex task of preventing sprawl. This is not a one shot operation, by subject to elaborate planning processes of various disciplines. For this reason in our research project FLAIR (German acronym for 'Land Use Management by Innovative Regional Planning') we apply an approach of 'Problems-First' to the problem of exceeding land consumption. 'Problems-First' means not to start with methods, instruments or theories – like this is done in the majority of cases – but with an elaboration of the (socially constructed) problems particular identifying the processes that cause land consumption. Based on this survey of underlying processes of land consumption on the regional, national and international level, two half-year iterative strategic planning procedures are taking place in two municipalities of the Region of Southern Upper Rhine and will be finished in June 2008. 'Strategic Planning Procedures' are a mixture between expertises and architectural studios on a given complex spatial problem. In the Strategic Planning Procedures three multidiciplinary teams work simultaneously in a 'contest of ideas' and to develop strategies how to activate Brownfield potentials and reduce the consumption of Greenfields. There work progress is being reviewed and affected three times by a group of experts and local politicians. The outcome of these procedures is aimed to prove feasibility of implementation and will also be tested for transferability to other communities and regions. Our presentation at ISOCARP 2008 will show outcomes of the strategic planning procedures and the project FLAIR. We expect the teams involved to suggest a wider spectrum of potential solutions, instead of having only spatial interventions. Our results are anticipated to be independent from the German national planning system, hence applicable to other countries and their planning systems and their planning cultures. Keywords Regional Planning, Problems-First, Strategic Planning, Land Use Management Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2008: Urban Growth without Sprawl   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper