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Spatial Planning Instruments in Bulgaria: Toward the Europeanization of the Spatial Model

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Abstract

This study aims to advance the knowledge of the system of spatial planning instruments and of the Europeanization process, having as an object of study a country from Eastern Europe: Bulgaria. The actuality of the topic is justified by the fact that Bulgaria is one of the new EU member states and also by the need to understand how the national system of spatial planning is transformed and Europeanized as a result of this membership. Understanding and interpreting the changes in the planning system after the fall of the communist regime in 1989 and the country's preparation for EU-membership, followed by an analysis of the system of spatial planning instruments and its implementation in the process of Europeanization, shape out the two main successive lines of research, which define the main objectives of the study. The time scope of the study covers the period between 1989 and 2013, thus coinciding with the end of the first programming period for Bulgaria as an official member of the Union. The study follows the dynamics of the various dimensions of the system of spatial planning, with special focus on those periods when the Europeanization process has had the greatest impact in the transformation of the system of planning instruments, respectively – the strongest impact on the spatial instruments - and its implementation through new ones, in the context of the European spatial discourse or model. The analysis of the studied literature and documents, as well as the conducted interviews, show and argue that Bulgaria has made significant efforts in introducing new planning instruments, mostly related to regional development planning, but without any reformation and integration of the system of spatial planning. The implementation of the Integrated Plans at the local level and the National Spatial Development Concept as new spatial instruments - an expression of the coordination of the physical planning and the development of the territory, although within the legal framework of regional development - display the first attempts for integration of the planning system, discursive integration and transfer of the ideas of the European spatial model.
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... September, 2017 Изполването на пространственият дискурс за "Европа" като трибуна на знания, ресурси или аргументи за постигането на конкретни политически цели в процеса на адаптация на страните в ЕС, представлява сложен механизъм, които несъмнено е обвързан с развитието на когнитивните и дискурсивнo измерения на системата за пространствено планиране. Проучванията до момента в тази сфера в България ( Yanchev, 2012;Simeonova, 2017) показват възстановяване на значението на европейския пространствен дискурс преди всичко в периода след 2007 г. Необходимостта от "ползването" на "Европа" и нейните принципи не само посредством каналите й за финансиране, придобива приоритетно значение в страната значително късно ( Simeonova, 2017). ...
... Проучванията до момента в тази сфера в България ( Yanchev, 2012;Simeonova, 2017) показват възстановяване на значението на европейския пространствен дискурс преди всичко в периода след 2007 г. Необходимостта от "ползването" на "Европа" и нейните принципи не само посредством каналите й за финансиране, придобива приоритетно значение в страната значително късно ( Simeonova, 2017). Разработването на НКПР е също част от европеизационните реформи на системата от планови документи в България след 2007 г. ...
... ЕППР са чудесен пример за измерване на дискурсивната интеграцията в страните членки в зараждаща се фаза на Европейското пространствено планиране ( ), но не особено комплексен пример при изследването на пространственото планиране в Източна Европа, където трудната промяна на плановата култура и плановите практики се намират в тясна зависимост от успеха или неуспеха на европейската кохезионна политика ( Маier, 2012). България не е изключение от този случай ( Simeonova, 2017). Освен това, актьорите във всяка европеизираща се система опитват по свой начин да (ре)произведат и трасферират идеи и образи за европейско пространство и/или да се учат от европейските документи на пространствено мислене, с което се поддържа идеята за "Европа" както пространствено образувание ( Luukkonen, 2015). ...
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Twenty eight after the fall of “the wall" of political dependence and centralized state control, the process of Europeanization, although difficult, has succeeded in introducing new aspects and visions of spatial planning in Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria. Of course, this process isn’t over yet. Nonetheless, many of the traditional aspects of Bulgarian spatial planning have been banned, after being left unreformed for too long, or simply being an expression of limited political interest in the spatial discourse of the European Union. Evidence of legal and institutional changes under the pressure of “Europe” can easily be found in the Bulgarian planning system, especially through the policy of regional development and planning. Subsequently, evidence of the Europeanization pressure of the European legislative framework and the European financial policy, can also be found. Using the European spatial development discourse for justifying and discussing the national planning reforms is not a precedent in the Europeanization analysis. References to the European Spatial Development Perspective and other documents which form the European spatial discourse, offer the policy actors and participants in the planning process, additional arguments for the strategic course of spatial development, but also for rationalizing decisions that allow and determine the duration of the European resources in planning policies. The voluntary transfer of ideas and principles, as well as the factors that determine it, is perhaps the most discussed topic in the study of the Europeanization of the Bulgarian spatial planning. The elaboration and adoption of the National Spatial Development Concept (NSDC) is part of the delayed process of Europeanization of the internal spatial discourse. However, the NSDC is the first national spatial document to transfer and adapt the policy objectives of the European Perspective to the spatial conditions and specifics of Bulgaria, at least on paper.
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The article deals with the issue of spatial plans at the local level. The aims of this paper are (1) extracting the characteristics of local spatial plans that can be compared more broadly (2) identifying, on this basis, the role of spatial plans at the local level in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In achieving these aims, the authors have critically examined spatial plans and their performance, as well as the planning systems they belong to. Hence, they have investigated the types of local plans in each country, their legal features, and the layout of their content. This examination has revealed a host of problems in the workings of the CEE planning systems. The article highlights those spatial planning issues that could be the subject of more in-depth international comparisons. The study provides additional evidence that in countries where spatial plans are legislated, there are more (mutually differentiated) legal problems in their application. Such problems have been analyzed. Besides procedural problems, discrepancies between the contents of different types of plans (e.g., general plans and detailed plans) are very often a problem. The paper also proposes a novel method for detailed comparisons of selected aspects of spatial plans. It can be applied to a large number of countries and also to other aspects of spatial planning. Last but not least, the paper emphasizes the need for a detailed multi-stage consultation of each aspect to be compared.
Thesis
Cette recherche sur les transformations spatiales de la Bulgarie contemporaine vise à interroger les cadres de la rénovation urbaine dans le pays au travers de la notion de patrimoines ordinaires modernes. Une génération après la fin du communisme, elle doit aujourd’hui faire face à plusieurs défis pour se projeter dans le XXIe siècle : une décroissance urbaine et démographique forte, la présence d’un parc de logements issus de la période moderne qu’il est nécessaire de rénover, une société de propriétaires précaire et l’absence de reconnaissance de ces héritages architecturaux et modernes comme des ressources pour concevoir la ville du XXIe siècle.Face à ces constats, sur quelles bases renouveler les cadres de la rénovation urbaine en Bulgarie ?Nous avons émis l’hypothèse qu’il est possible de renouveler l’approche de la rénovation urbaine en Bulgarie en nous intéressant à la notion de patrimoines ordinaires modernes. Ils sont définis comme l’articulation de trois dynamiques : un processus d’hybridations culturelles issu de la modernisation de la Bulgarie depuis le XIXe siècle, un processus de stratification spatiale issu du recyclage des espaces urbains au fil de la planification de la ville ; et d’un processus de résilience issu du marquage de l’espace par les acteurs de la fabrique de la ville. L’hypothèse d’un patrimoine ordinaire moderne, qui serait l’articulation de ces trois processus, permettrait alors de renouveler l’approche de la rénovation urbaine en Bulgarie, jusqu’à présent cantonnée à la rénovation énergétique des bâtiments et à la maintenance de structures.Afin de tester notre hypothèse, le protocole de recherche proposé se développe sur la ville de Varna, sur une période allant des débuts de la modernité en Bulgarie jusqu’à aujourd’hui (XIXe – XXIe siècle). La déstratification de l’espace nous amène à comprendre les dynamiques de transformation des territoires modernes et à formuler des propositions pour renouveler l’approche de la rénovation urbaine.
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