Can less sometimes be more? Integrating land use and transport planning on Merseyside (1965–2008)

Abstract

The integration of land use planning with other spatially significant policy sectors has been a longstanding aspiration and subject of debate in the planning profession and academia. The strategic planning of the 1960s and 1970s, for example, frequently aimed to promote a more ‘spatialised’ management of public policies and programmes. More recently, in the 1990s and 2000s the notion of ‘spatial planning’, popularised by international debates and new forms of governance and public management, has similarly placed an emphasis on the coherent management and coordination of policies and activities with a spatial impact. Achieving greater coordination between land use and transport policy has been a recurring theme in discussions on the integration of land use planning and other sectors. Informed by the context outlined above, this paper considers integration between land use and transport policies, plans, programmes and projects from both a conceptual and empirical perspective. It postulates the existence of a continuum model of integration between policy sectors ranging from ‘light’ to ‘deep’ integration and identifies barriers to and enablers of the achievement of effective integration. These elements are then used to frame and interpret evidence on the integration of land use and transport policies in Merseyside (UK) between 1965 and 2008. The findings indicate that effective integration is more likely to happen at the centre of a continuum between light and deep integration, with the implication being that deeper integration between policy sectors does not necessarily result in more effective integration overall.