Selected good practices

Eight of the eleven good practices are presented below, to supply a broad range of examples of CP cross-fertilisation with planning and territorial management systems, in relation to local or regional challenges.

8.2.1 The coordination of spatial planning in the Budapest agglomeration, Hungary (polycentricity and suburbanisation)

Coordination in spatial planning in the Budapest agglomeration dates back to the late 1990s.

The first development concept and development programme for the Budapest agglomeration came into being in 1999, having taken shape in close cooperation between different stakeholders of the suburban region, with the approval of the Budapest Agglomeration Development Council. The creation of the land-use plan for the suburban region adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in 2005 was also based on a region-wide consultation process with the local governments concerned. Despite all the differences and disagreements between Budapest and Pest County, effective cooperation in spatial planning has made progress since then. The spatial planning documents on different levels (of the NUTS2 region, the Budapest agglomeration, Pest county and Budapest city) have often set common goals, such as the promotion of polycentric and more balanced territorial development in the suburban region.

Coordination of planning practice has frequently relied on informal cooperation between the experts involved.

A new chapter in spatial planning commenced with the pursuit of administrative reform in Hungary. Following the abolition of the Budapest Agglomeration Development Council and the NUTS2-level institutions (regional councils, regional development agencies), no formal institution has remained in place to coordinate spatial planning activity at the suburban level.

Meanwhile, 2014-2020 EU regulations emphasise a place-based and integrated approach, and have introduced new tools facilitating regional coordination, particularly the ITI and CLLD.

Although the Hungarian Government did not ultimately apply the ‘integrated territorial investment’ approach, and applied the CLLD in urban areas in an experimental manner only, the integrated approach has emerged in Hungarian spatial-planning practice. A new statutory local-level planning instrument has been introduced, in the shape of an ‘integrated urban development strategy’. The Local Government of Budapest and the district local governments

also elaborated their integrated urban development strategies in 2013 (approved in 2014). In turn, Budapest reviewed its strategy in 2016. The document paid much attention to the territorial aspects of planned developments, focusing on areas of actions extending beyond district boundaries and influencing urban structure. It also promoted a proactive and coordinating role within the metropolitan region.

In line with this role, the Local Government of Budapest initiated coordination of planned interventions and projects on three pre-defined topics that had been laid down previously in the ‘Budapest 2030’ long-term development concept. These issues included the coordinated development of the Danube riverside, the rehabilitation of brownfield areas, and social urban regeneration. The initiative was based on the principle that an integrated strategy needs continuous cooperation and a working partnership between governmental, civil and economic actors. The planning exercise started in January 2014 and ran for six months, with the involvement of the Local Government of Budapest, the 23 district governments, Pest County, the authorities concerned, and a number of professional organisations. The aim of the process was the elaboration of thematic development programmes, which should be the basic documents laying down joint development directions, and serving in the identification and preparation of projects implemented using EU funding. The outcomes took the form of strategic documents with realisable goals, a planning process, programme implementation, and an agreement as to the most important brownfield and Danube area development projects for the upcoming seven years. These projects were also displayed on a schematic map of the city.

In line with a request from the districts and from Pest County, along with approval granted to the three thematic programmes, a fourth thematic document on economic development and job creation took shape in the first half of 2015. The six parties participating at expert level as the strategy was drawn up were the Budapest Local Government; the 23 district governments; the Government of Pest County; two State Secretariats of the Ministry for the National Economy; the Prime Minister’s Office; the National Research, Development and Innovation Office; the Budapest Local Government Department’s Employment Centre and eight entrepreneurial organisations, along with the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The strategy had previously been debated and accepted by a decision-making body composed of the leaders (mayors and delegates) of the Budapest Local Government and the 23 district governments.

The planning process where the thematic programmes were concerned took the following form. The General Assembly of Budapest first set up subject-based working groups meeting every week. The basic function of the decision-making working groups was the management of the planning procedure and the adoption of programmes.The planning partnership began with analysis of the Budapest 2030 goals and assessment of the initial situation. In the course of the analysis, important challenges and useful potentials were discovered. The definition of a mid-term goal proved to be crucial. The next step was to determine perspectives that would

assist with decision making in relation to the most effective projects. The last phase entailed the discussion of projects, their modification and adoption, and the putting forward of suggestions for the final proposal. The social urban regeneration programme and the economic programme required different approaches. Once mid-term thematic goals had been determined, a second phase worked out principles and directives for project plans and their implementation. An action plan was also devised for the social urban regeneration programme in the third phase.

The planning process included measures reliant not only on the Central-Hungarian Regional Operational Programme, but also on sectoral OPs (e.g. Integrated Transport Development).

This reflected the fact that their implementation links closely with the attainment of mid-term goals of the thematic development programme.

In the planning phase, a high level of public involvement was considered crucial. The continuously-updated www.budapestfejlesztes.hu website helped with the project, providing information after every working group meeting, and also enabling the public to share their opinion about updated materials, while also remaining free to send in their own suggestions.

Another important tool informing the public was the ‘Open Forum’, held four times.

Professional and civic organisations participated alongside public representatives. These people were each time informed of the current situation of the planning procedure, and had the opportunity to share opinions on the different planning points. These opinions were later incorporated into final results.

A study by the Ministry for the National Economy arrived at the conclusion that the thematic development programmes, as a new planning tool and cooperative planning practice, did represent a good model for later planning cooperation at the agglomeration level.

8.2.2 Regional Territorial Investment: the Mazovian rail/road transfer node in Poland (polycentricity and suburbanisation)

The Regional Territorial Investment (RTI) represents a new instrument for a territorial approach to regional development. It was initially regarded as an ‘experimental’ mechanism intended to inspire local governments to jointly implement a number of investments forming a systemically (and functionally) cohesive project. In Mazowieckie Voivodeship, RTI is ongoing in the subregions of Płock, Siedlce, Ciechanów, Radom and Ostrołęka. The RTI leader in each subregion is its main city. The subregional centre is also intended to coordinate the investment plan for each RTI.

Investments planned under the RTI will be financed under the Regional Operational Programme for Mazowieckie Voivodeship (the budget being €2.1 bn). The planned operations will be implemented by either local governments or partnerships, which may be established in any form. Partnerships should be formed in response to common challenges, and the necessity for a collaborative vision of development to be enacted. The RTI projects are

intended to be of integrated form, meaning that these will be groups (bundles) of projects solving a given problem jointly, and supporting the development of a subregion.

Under the RTI, the European Commission introduced a tool known as the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI), which serves the functional areas of cities. In Mazowieckie Voivodeship, there are ITIs for the Warsaw agglomeration (with a budget of €165M) and as of 2016, for Radom. The task of defining the functional area was assigned to the RTI leaders.

In line with guidelines from the European Commission and Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction, both the RTI and ITI are to act as tools for urban development, but in a functional sense, which is to say that administrative boundaries may be crossed, albeit within a given area whose limits can be justified on the basis of research and analysis. There are relevant documents at supra-local level, as well as studies and additional analyses.

To gain funding, projects take part in competitions announced specially for the RTI/ITI (within the so-called problem areas or Strategic Intervention Areas). Participation in these competitions does not preclude application for EU funds under other calls open to all.

Projects selected in the competition announced for the RTI resemble other proposals as they must receive a positive rating in line with the criteria adopted by the Monitoring Committee.

Although the list of projects implemented under the RTI and ITI in Mazowieckie Voivodeship is not yet closed (enrolment has been ongoing since June 2016), these instruments are good example of integrated spatial planning. Their most desirable feature is the location of new developments in connection with natural functional areas such as daily urban systems. This is crucial in terms of both promoting polycentrism and improving the efficiency of areas with dispersed settlement, as well as promoting cooperation between local-authority areas.

An example of successful RTI in Mazowieckie Voivodeship is a bundled investment entitled

‘Establishment of Integrated Multifunction Passenger Exchange Node in Siedlce. Expansion and modernization of the associated communication system of the city and the subregion of Siedlce’. The bundle consists of the following initiatives:

1. expansion of communication infrastructure in the vicinity of the existing railway station in Siedlce,

2. construction of a bus interchange centre on the E 20 railway line located in the TEN-T, linking it to the north and south of the city and improving the public transport system in the area,

3. modernisation of the communication system in adjacent districts, as linked spatially to the TEN-T network,

4. establishment of a transfer centre in Sokołów Podlaski, which is linked spatially to the Siedlce Node.

The main project (1.) entails the construction of a tunnel and stage III of the inner-city ring road construction (connected directly to the railway line located in the TEN-T network and indirectly to National Road No. 2 located within the TEN-T network). It was possible to achieve improved accessibility of the city centre and the rail/road transfer node. Project

implementation will benefit from considerable supplementary payment from the EU. The very positive evaluation the project received was i.a. related to the effective cooperation achieved between the partner cities, as well as the way work linked up with planning and strategic documents. Thus, for example, Sokołów Podlaski, as one of the partner towns, will receive a 5.6M EUR (80%) supplementary payment, because a revitalization programme has been developed). Development of the overall RIT is to receive a supplementary payment of around 50M EUR. Construction is to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2018.

8.2.3 Managing the tourist product of the Augustowski Canal in Poland (peripheries and other specific regions)

The Augustowski Canal is a historic 102 km-long facility, with several locks, connecting the Vistula River and Niemen basins, located in the north-eastern part of Poland and partly on the territory of Belarus. The Augustowski Canal is an outstanding example of Polish civil engineering from the early 19th century. In recent years it has gradually been renovated. It has been listed as an attraction along the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

The Canal runs through natural and culturally valuable areas, i.e. the Augustów Primeval Forest (one of the largest forest complexes in Poland) and wetland meadows and marshes of the Biebrza Basin. It is also one of the most important tourist attractions of Podlaskie Voivodeship, taking advantage of features valuable from the tourist and recreational points of view (in water sports, kayaking and sailing), and combining this with the development of local (peripheral) economies based on tourist services, yachting and fisheries (see: Podlaskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2020). Nevertheless, intensive tourism lacking adequate quality infrastructure poses a serious threat to the natural environment in the region.

Management of this region’s territory is based on the pursuit of integrated actions that serve the Augustowski Canal’s development and create a common tourism product development strategy that raises attractiveness in terms of tourism and recreation in communities along the Canal, and serves in these areas’ economic activation.

On the one hand, this is a strategy requiring long-term actions; while on the other it denotes a requirement for actions that take various aspects of local space into account. It was for this purpose that, prior to Poland's integration with the EU, PHARE pre-accession funds were used to improve the technical condition of the existing Canal infrastructure. Later, as EU funding was utilised, the main focus was on the construction or modernisation of facilities serving sport, tourism and leisure. Actions at the level of the whole country or the Eastern Poland macro-region, or else in the framework of cross-border cooperation, can be considered measures accompanying the regional development vision, e.g. taking heavy traffic transit (along the Via Baltica route) outside one of the region’s main tourist centres - Augustów; and running the Eastern Poland Cycle Route along the Canal (Green Velo), with financing from the European Regional Development Fund, and with strengthened

cross-border infrastructure in the Canal area financed by the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Cross Border Cooperation Programme.

Initially (under the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective), a lack of institutionalised cooperation between units of local and regional government did not prevent outlining of a particular strategic and programme framework for the development of the area around the Augustowski Canal. During this period, several documents of a supra-local character were developed, i.e.

the Strategy for the integrated branded tourist product of the Augustowski Canal as an element of an international product, via the Strategy for the development of the tourist product known as the Water Route of King Stefan Batory and comprising the River Vistula and the Żerański Canal, the reservoir at Zegrze known as Zalew Zegrzyński, the Narew, the Biebrza, the Augustowski Canal and the River Niemen. At this stage, implementation was limited, with documents mostly serving to popularise issues relating to the region, while accentuating the need for a comprehensive approach to territorial management in the area.

During this period, support for the development of tourism involved use being made of natural and cultural heritage (raising the level of attractiveness to tourists and upgrading capacity as regards tourism), with this all being initiated on the basis of Priorities set out in the relevant Regional Operational Programme (ROP). Within the framework of the ROP’s Priority Axis No.

3 ‘Tourism and Culture Development’, priority for grants in a competitive procedure was given to investments in the areas most attractive in terms of tourism, including in the Canal area. In addition, a list of key projects planned for implementation in the non-competitive mode was defined; over 10% of EU funds in Priority Axis No. 3 of the ROP were allocated to projects located in the area of the Augustowski Canal (in the gminas of Augustów and Płaska). These investments addressed the tourism-related issues in a comprehensive manner, through the construction of walking-cycling-ski paths, the development of beaches and green areas, and the construction of a tourist and sports centre with a view to the quality of tourist services being raised and the tourist season extended.

Under the current Financial Perspective for 2014-2020, priority actions along the Augustowski Canal are focused on support for enterprises, and are being pursued consistently, with the support of EU funds and within the ROP framework. In a competitive procedure, priority for grants was assigned to investment in gminas (units of local government administration) that have Natura 2000 areas. This also allows for investment in business related to tourism around the Augustowski Canal. Also developed is a concept for the revitalisation of the waterway between the Great Mazurian Lakes and the Augustowski Canal in Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships.

Nevertheless, the most important change in territorial management of the Augustowski Canal area involves the way in which its management is organised. In 2016, a Polish-Belarussian working group on the development of the Augustowski Canal was formed. It consists of representatives of the Polish and Belarusian parties, including regional authorities, representatives of the State Forests and National Park, local authorities and the Regional

Water Management Board. The aim of the group is to develop tasks and cooperation, with a view to the potential of the Canal in terms of tourism and promotion being maximised.

Consideration has been given to some of the postulates of the group, such as: a) a changed status of the Rudawka-Lesnaja river border crossing and the introduced option of a pedestrian and cycling crossing point; b) extension of the Green Velo cycle route to link the cycle paths along the entire Canal on both sides of the Polish-Belarusian border, and in Lithuania.

Management of the Augustowski Canal presents a spatial planning practice evolving over the years. The transformation of the strategic approach to the development of Augustowski Canal area may be regarded as a good example of bottom-up change in territorial management.

There has been a switch in coordination and communication in the medium term, leading to the formalising of cooperation between authorities at the local and regional levels in Poland and Belarus. These activities have been dictated by increased investment activity reflecting the availability of EU funds and increased pressure to ensure consistency of action.

In conclusion, this is an example of consistent implementation of actions seeking to reconstruct a facility, as well as modernise areas adjacent to it. This is then a cohesive vision for use of the Augustowski Canal and revitalisation of areas adjacent thereto, in cooperation with units at local and provincial level, with bottom-up local initiatives, as well as inter-institutional cooperation between Poland and Belarus, including via the Niemen Euroregion Forum. A number of related activities have been pursued in several communities in Poland and Belarus, such as:

• modernisation of tourist infrastructure (the electric water ski lift, tourist paths and cycle paths),

• extension of the tourist season, i.a. via a broadening of the tourist offer (to include cross-country ski trails and the development of sanatorium facilities),

• strengthening of cross-border tourism (opening of the first river crossing point of Rudawka-Lesnaja).

Together, such activity has led to the creation of a tourist product of international importance.

Furthermore, activity engaged in to date has given rise to further initiatives aimed at strengthening the tourist and economic functions of these areas, with account all the time taken of the protection of natural heritage.

8.2.4 Ireland Eastern Midland Region Ferbane Community Plan – Offaly (peripheries and other specific regions)

Ferbane in western County Offaly, Ireland, is a small rural town of under 1200 people on the periphery of the Eastern Midland Region included within the category of ‘declining rural area’.

Ferbane in western County Offaly, Ireland, is a small rural town of under 1200 people on the periphery of the Eastern Midland Region included within the category of ‘declining rural area’.