Non-Statutory Practices in Regional Spatial Planning : A comparative study of three Swedish regions

Sammanfattning: Regional spatial planning is on the rise. In a Swedish context, regions hold little mandate in spatial planning, but an ongoing trend of planning extending to the regional level can be seen.  Aside from three regions with official planning responsibilities, many regions practise spatial planning through non-statutory practices.  The aim of this thesis is to explore the types of logic that three carefully selected regions apply in practising non-statutory regional spatial planning. To that end, I analyse the prevailing understanding of the spatial-political arena of municipalities, regions and national authorities, and the challenges that these various types of logic may lead to when practising non-statutory planning. The thesis responds to two research questions1) the types of logic that guide non-statutory regional planning, and 2) the challenges such logics may face. The three selected regions, the Blekinge region, the Västra Götaland region, and the Östergötland region, were studied and compared through interviews, observations and document analysis. A thematic analysis is applied onto the material, from which dominating logics were identified. Findings show that these regions, even within the same national context, operate in diverse ways, and that challenges relate to the current fuzziness of the Swedish regional planning legislation, a perceived lack of guidance from the national level, and difficulties in collaborating with municipalities.