Evaluating trends in the consideration of urban green spaces in strategic spatial planning

Insights from Romania

authored by

Andreea Raluca Slave, Ana Maria Popa, Diana Andreea Onose, Blal Adem Esmail, Christian Albert, Constantina Alina Hossu, Ioan Cristian Iojă, Simona R. Gradinaru

Abstract

In Europe, strategic spatial planning is increasingly recognized as a public-sector-led approach that brings together multiple actors in collaborative settings to build long-term visions for urban development. Despite the growing importance of urban green spaces (UGS) in fostering sustainable and liveable cities, systematic longitudinal and comparative analyses of UGS integration into strategic urban plans remain scarce. Drawing on established normative criteria for “good” strategic plans and evidence from practice, we propose an evaluation framework to assess the communication-oriented, evidence-based, action-oriented, collaborative and adaptive dimensions of plans. We apply the framework to three generations of strategic plans from 18 Romanian cities. Our results indicate that, while UGS are frequently mentioned, their integration into actionable strategies is inconsistent. We observe, however, a positive trend in the incorporation of UGS into successive plan iterations. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to use a longitudinal research design to systematically assess changes in the quality of strategic urban plans, with a particular focus on UGS. We discuss our framework and findings in the context of broader debates about the nature of strategic planning and the mainstreaming of environmental aspects into strategic plans. Applying the framework in different countries and planning contexts could assess its transferability and reveal how institutional arrangements, planning traditions, and socio-political environments influence the quality of strategic plans over time.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Environmental Planning

External Organisation(s)

University of Bucharest
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Eurac Research
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)

Type

Article

Journal

Landscape and urban planning

Volume

263

ISSN

0169-2046

Publication date

11.2025

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Urban Studies, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105425 (Access: Open)