The Coordination of Central-Local Governments in Spatial Planning: Insights from the UK Experience
Abstract：
The rational allocation of planning power in the vertical government system is a difficult issue in both theoretical and practical fields of China’s spatial planning. Through policy analysis and literature analysis, the paper studies the strategy of decentralization and centralization, the design of rules and systems, the implementation measures and the operational guarantee of the UK planning system. It is found that by balancing the decentralization and centralization of planning power, both the simplification of planning content and the enhancement of planning efficiency have been realized. Meanwhile, the planning objectives of the upper government have been effectively conveyed. Considering China’s spatial planning, we propose that: firstly, stimulate local autonomy through systematic decentralization to enhance the governance effectiveness of planning; secondly, focus on the limited key affairs and areas of decentralization to balance the guiding and mandatory requirement from the upper government; lastly, make full use of public-private collaboration and public participation to solve the contradiction between decentralization and centralization.