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ICS
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2015
Summary
Different studies on the typologies of national spatial planning systems across Europe
classify Portugal in different categories. What explains this variation? Is the Portuguese
spatial planning system a product of different traditions or did the authors apply different
criteria in their classifications? This paper pieces together and analyses the processes leading
to the emergence of spatial planning as an autonomous public policy in Portugal,
emphasizing the diversity of scientific domains, professional communities, internal political
contexts and external influences that contributed significantly to its evolution over a period
of 150 years. Under this genealogic approach, major tensions currently affecting spatial
planning as an autonomous public policy in Portugal are identified, leading to a final
synthetic prediction of possible scenarios for evolution in the near future.
Key-words
:
Spatial planning, Public policy, Portugal, Europeanization of policies
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