New work on assessing the impacts of policy on cohesion

Cliff Hague

(I’m really going to talk about Territorial Impact Assessment)

Spatial Planning and Territorial Impact Assessment: A question of belief?

• Is it possible to make territorial strategies without being able to anticipate territorial impacts of policies and proposals?

• Can you regulate development without being able to anticipate the territorial impacts?

So do you have methods to assess territorial impacts?

• If you have methods are they part of the procedures of planning set out in legislation?

• If you assess territorial impacts does anyone listen?

• What is the difference between territorial impact and Strategic Environmental Assessment or EIA?

Development of TIA

• “.. a German wish that has found its way into the ESDP” (Faludi and Waterhout, 2002).

• Large infrastructure projects, water management projects or in trans-border situations.

• It saw TIA as a procedure for assessing the impacts of policies and proposed developments against spatial policy objectives.

• It gave no guidance on how a TIA might be done, and tended to link TIA with environmental assessment.

ESPON 2006

• Trans-European networks,

• Common agricultural policy,

• Structural Funds • Research, technology

and development• Fisheries• Community competition

policy • Lisbon-Gothenburg

Agenda • Environmental policy

• CAP Pillar 1 (direct payment to producers) goes to richer regions in the core.

• Pillar 2 (rural development) spending favours more economically viable regions.

TEQUILA

TEQUILA

ESPON 2013 - TIPTAP

• TEQUILA II

• Agriculture and Transport Policies

• Flags show regions at risk of excessive emissions based on existing TENs-T policies.

Unseen Europe: EU impacts on spatial development

TIA of Territorial Cohesion for the Netherlands

Research for Dept. of Communities and Local Government

9 UK telephone interviews + 10 from other EU countries.

• Belgium/Wallonia• Germany• Ireland• Italy• Luxembourg• Netherlands• Poland• Portugal• Slovenia• Sweden

“The idea of TIA was mooted in discussions leading up to the Territorial Agenda, but some Member States were very resistant to the idea.”

The context

• “An assessment culture is developing that is onerous and demanding on time and other resources, checking things which are ridiculous.”

• “The SEA procedure is not well integrated with existing sectoral or spatial planning procedures. Rather SEA has been put on top of them. Doing a SEA has been perceived as an EU obligation, rather than as a more positive tool. It is seen as a kind of audit.”

What kind of TIA is needed?

“…a way of doing TIA that would involve asking just a few very pertinent questions that would open the eyes of people not used to working territorially. If TIA managed that it would be a very good exercise even if it lacked any mapping and detail.”

What do practitioners want?

“Complicated methods will not be taken up in practice – if you go out to practitioners with a TIA methodology, you have to realise that they are not technicians. They want results. In small counties there will be very few practitioners able to use a complicated methodology.”

Summary of findings

• The term TIA is not in common use.• There are some TIA-style procedures in some countries• EU Directives and Policy do have territorial impacts• Environmental assessments are the main form of impact

assessment, but have limits• TIA needs to be easy to understand and manageable in

terms of resources and data• There is value in ESPON’s TIA work, but it is too

sophisticated to be transferred to practice• TIA would be most useful if done ex-ante• Plans are key to the TIA process

EU Impact Assessment Guidelines

Could provide a model. However:

• IA is responsibility of those making the proposals: not territorial experts.

• There is not EU spatial framework to use as the reference point.

• But…Social impact guidance is provided

Coming soon…

• Study for CLG on “Tools to address the impact of EU Directives on UK sub-national planning policies” by Arup.

• ESPON project on “Territorial and Regional Sensitivity of EU Directives.”

• Territorial Agenda revision under Hungarian Presidency.

• ESPON and TIA – new “Targeted Analysis” project currently being tendered (closes 28 June).

ESPON and TIA project

• Stakeholders are ministries responsible for spatial planning in England, Portugal and Slovenia.

• How can the assessment of territorial impacts of European (sector) policies be addressed in the cycles for territorial and spatial planning policymaking within European Member States in general and in the national and regional territorial development strategies in particular?

ESPON and TIA Project 2010-12

Analytical track

• Methods and tools (ESPON, Member States, Commission)

• Data• How to implement TIA

in practice

Interactive learning track

• 3 national learning networks of up to 15 practitioners

• Training workshops for national networks

• End-user feedback on analytical findings

TIA – science or planners’ faith?

Faith and factsNew Charter of Athens commitments:

• Convince all involved parties to share a common and long term vision for their city or region, beyond their individual interests and objectives

• Suggest and elaborate operational legislative tools to ensure efficiency and social justice in spatial policies.

• Achieve efficiency and effectiveness of adopted proposals, taking into account economic feasibility and the environmental and social aspects of sustainability

Research on TIA:

• Few countries have TIA procedures.

• EIA and SEA now dominate – but are not necessarily territorial.

• Directives and policies have intended and unintended territorial effects not picked up in IA regimes – some are easier to anticipate than others.

• Spatial strategies (and their preparation) can be a means to assess territorial impacts.

• ESPON and TIA project will try to build a TIA approach that practitioners will use.

• Why hasn’t it been done before?

Thank You