The glossary

Spatial monitoring is the indicator-based, on-going, systematic, and comprehensive identification and description of spatial structural developments in such fields as demography, the economy, the labour market, agriculture, tourism, and the environment. As a basis for planning, spatial monitoring is an important and permanent task both at the national level (on-going spatial monitoring by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, BBR) and by most state and regional planning authorities. It provides planning bodies with early information on spatial processes affecting planning and on the effectiveness of measures that are already running.
Spatial monitoring addresses spatial policy and planning issues on the basis of regional statistics and area-related data. The results of spatial monitoring are presented in maps and diagrams, and increasingly in the form of digital spatial planning registers.

A spatial planning contract is a coordination tool for balancing spatial planning requirements between state governments and one or more municipalities or between different municipalities. Spatial planning contracts provide a binding basis for preparing and implementing spatial structure plans and regional development strategies in harmony with local interests. Such contracts do not replace existing spatial planning tools but complement them in specific task areas where cooperation is paramount (cf. Article 13 ROG). The entire spectrum of spatial planning can be the subject of spatial planning contracts, but in practice the focus is on implementation aspects. For example, cooperation between municipalities in city networks is regulated by contract. Depending on the type of plan involved, contracts are referred to as state spatial planning contracts (landesplanerische Verträge) or regional planning contracts (regionalplanerische Verträge).

“Raumordnung” (translated in the glossary as “spatial planning”), “Raumentwicklung” (spatial development), and “Raumplanung” (also literally spatial planning) are closely related concepts denoting deliberate human intervention in the development of an area (or “space”). The traditional term “Raumordnung” refers to the comprehensive, supra-local and superordinate tier of planning the structure and development of space. The attribute “comprehensive” emphasises the function of co-ordinating and harmonising those elements of the various types of sectoral planning which have spatial impacts. “Supra-local” indicates that the territory affected by this tier of planning extends beyond the boundaries and jurisdictions of local authorities. The “superordinate” character of spatial planning is a reflection of the power of central government to play an all-embracing and co-ordinating role with regard to planning by virtue of its sovereign powers for the entire national territory. As a consequence, all public planning authorities are subject to government authority and are thus bound by state spatial planning. “Raumentwicklung,” translated as “spatial development” has for some time now been used in place of “Raumordnung“ (e.g. European Spatial Development Concept). The more strongly formative, dynamic nature of the development concept is intended to underline that more than an “ordering” function is involved. In general usage, the term “Raumplanung,” also translated as spatial planning, refers quite broadly to the various actions taken within a particular territory with the purpose of affecting or influencing the spatial development of the community, of industry and commerce, and of the natural, built and social environment.

From the point of view of German planning law and administration, “Raumplanung” is the cover term which embraces three tiers of supra-sectoral planning: federal spatial planning (Bundes-Raumordnung); state spatial planning (Landesplanung), which includes regional planning (Regionalplanung); and urban land-use planning (Bauleitplanung). Taken together, these three planning tiers constitute a coherent spatial planning system. The supra-sectoral and co-ordinating remit which is a central aspect of the planning system means that “Raumplanung” has to be seen as legally, organisationally and materially distinct from spatially relevant sectoral planning.

The Federal Spatial Planning Act is a federal act containing provisions on the conditions, functions, and guideline of spatial planning. Legislative competence is vested in the federation. The Federal Spatial Planning Act is divided into four parts: Part 1 contains all the general provisions which apply directly to spatial planning at the federal and state levels. They cover the function, guideline, and principles of spatial planning and definitions of key terms; they also establish the binding effect of spatial planning requirements. Part 2 assigns powers to the federation to pass framework legislation to guide spatial planning in the states, and, as well as setting out the rules to be observed in drawing up spatial structure plans, provides the instruments for securing spatial planning requirements. Being framework legislation, this part requires filling out by state law. Part 2 also establishes the power to issue ordinances. Part 3 regulates spatial planning at the federal level and introduces the duty of mutual notification and consultation between federal and state governments. Particular emphasis is given to the role played by federal-level spatial planning as the link between state spatial planning and EU planning. Part 4 covers the usual transitional and concluding provisions.

The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines and the Framework for Action in Spatial Planning Policy are federal action plans.

The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines were drawn up in 1993 by the then Federal Ministry for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development (now the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development) in collaboration with the states in the context of the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning. It formulates five guiding principles for spatial development and a strategy for the whole of Germany, include the European frame of reference. The guidelines seek to promote equivalent living conditions throughout the country and integrate the fundamentally altered situation in Europe (completion of the internal market, the opening up of Eastern Europe) in a model for spatial development. Polycentric spatial and settlement structures are to be safeguarded and developed, and natural resources protected.

The Framework of Action in Spatial Planning Policy, which works out the guidelines in detail, was adopted by the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning (MKRO) in 1996 as a medium-term working and action programme with 10 specific bundles of measures. The topics it addresses include regional development concepts, city networks, European metropolitan regions, strategies for structurally weak rural areas, and cross-border cooperation. The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines and Framework for Action in Spatial Planning Policy have made important contributions to spatial development in Germany and Europe.

Since the conditions for spatial development change, guidelines and frameworks for action are constantly updated. For instance, in June 2006 the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning adopted the “Guiding Principles and Strategies for Spatial Development in Germany”, setting new priorities in spatial planning for the coming years.

The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines and the Framework for Action in Spatial Planning Policy are federal action plans. The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines were drawn up in 1993 by the then Federal Ministry for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development (now the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development) in collaboration with the states in the context of the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning. It formulates five guiding principles for spatial development and a strategy for the whole of Germany, include the European frame of reference. The guidelines seek to promote equivalent living conditions throughout the country and integrate the fundamentally altered situation in Europe (completion of the internal market, the opening up of Eastern Europe) in a model for spatial development. Polycentric spatial and settlement structures are to be safeguarded and developed, and natural resources protected.

The Framework of Action in Spatial Planning Policy, which works out the guidelines in detail, was adopted by the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning (MKRO) in 1996 as a medium-term working and action programme with 10 specific bundles of measures. The topics it addresses include regional development concepts, city networks, European metropolitan regions, strategies for structurally weak rural areas, and cross-border cooperation. The Spatial Planning Policy Guidelines and Framework for Action in Spatial Planning Policy have made important contributions to spatial development in Germany and Europe.

Since the conditions for spatial development change, guidelines and frameworks for action are constantly updated. For instance, in June 2006 the Conference of Ministers for Spatial Planning adopted the “Guiding Principles and Strategies for Spatial Development in Germany”, setting new priorities in spatial planning for the coming years.

State development plans outline the desired spatial and structural development for the territory of the state. The name given such plans varies from state to state. They are termed state development plan (Landesentwicklungsplan), state spatial planning programme (Landesraumordungsprogramm), state development programme (Landesentwicklungsprogramm), etc. Plans for subdivisions of states (regions) are referred to as regional spatial structure plans (regionaler Raumordungsplan) or regional plans (Regionalplan) (
regional plan).
Procedures for preparing spatial structure plans and their content differ widely from state to state. In 1998, the Federal Spatial Planning Act therefore laid down general rules for state development plans. For instance, they are required to address settlement and open-space structures and infrastructure, and sectoral planning in the fields of the environment, transport, and pollution control.

Spatial structure results from the interplay of the entire range of factors which impact on the conditions which exist within an area, i.e., natural and administrative/ political circumstances, places of work and housing, transport infrastructure, and leisure and recreational facilities. Spatial structure thus emerges out of the totality of conditions affecting living and working in the territory; to a great extent, these conditions are interdependent, thus influencing the development or structure of the area. Settlement structure is the quantitative and qualitative pattern of distribution of housing, places of work, and infrastructure within a certain area.

The two terms are often combined to form a dual concept, “spatial and settlement structure”.

The term "region" is used in a wide range of contexts. It denotes an area that forms a unit owing to special characteristics. A region is always a middle-sized spatial unit, that is to say part of a larger unit and at the same time the sum of a group of smaller units. Since the beginning of the 1990s, “region” has become a vogue word, and even in the field of spatial planning a number of institutions have come to use it with reference to themselves, e.g., counties, regional associations, administrative districts, the states of the federation at the EU level, and innumerable informal regional cooperation projects. German regional planning is understood as a level of planning situated between the state and municipal levels. The area covered by a regional plan, the planning region, is thus, as defined above, both part of a state and a sum of counties and municipalities. Planning regions are constituted in keeping with spatial planning requirements.

Theoretically they should correspond to the catchment area of a high-order centre (as special characteristic), but in practice they are the territories of the counties affected or of an administrative district (Regierungsbezirk). For reporting purposes, federal spatial planning defines so-called spatial planning regions, which, however, often coincide with those for regional planning. Communities linked by strong commuter traffic form a common labour-market region.

Regional plans or regional spatial structure plans – the terminology differs from state to state in Germany – are overall coordination plans for planning regions (sub-areas within a state). Regional plans are drawn up on the basis of the spatial structure plan for the territory of the given state (state development plan). In preparing such plans, the regional planning authorities thus have the task of giving specific form to the spatial planning goals set for the particular region. As in the spatial structure plan for the entire state, the most important purpose of regional plans is to set concrete spatial planning goals.

In written and graphic form, the regional plan outlines the spatial structure and development to be realised in attaining the goals of comprehensive spatial planning. Principles of spatial planning can also be laid down that supplement and concretise the provisions of the Federal Spatial Planning Act in keeping with the guideline of sustainable spatial development for the given planning area.

Regional planning is the task of settling the desired future course of spatial structure and development for sections of a state (regions) by drawing up regional plans. Regional planning is thus spatial planning for subdivisions or regions of states. It gives concrete definition in the region to the spatial structure plan drawn up for the state as a whole, and specifies the regional goals of spatial planning. It therefore constitutes the vital link between the state’s supra-local perspectives for development and the specific local decisions land-use in the context of urban land-use planning. This mediating function requires a difficult balance between overall governmental responsibility and local self-government.

From a legal and substantive point of view, regional planning, being an element of state spatial planning, is a government task. But from an organisational and planning policy perspective, it is a joint task of state government and local self-government.
With the exception of the Saarland and the three city-states, all states in Germany have established autonomous spatial planning – regional planning – for parts of their territory (regions) pursuant to the Federal Spatial Planning Act and their own state spatial planning acts.