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This working paper is based on two separately commissioned projects that Nordregio carried out during 2015–2016. The first project was commissioned by the Nordic Working Group for Green Growth: Sustainable Urban Regions set up under the Nordic Council of Ministers' Committee of Senior Officials for Regional Policy (EK-R). This project relates to Chapters 2 to 5 of the present working paper, which describe the policy details and inner workings of urban contractualism in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The second project was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation. The objective was to review the experiences in France and England with different forms of contractualism. This relates to Chapters 6 to 8, which incorporate additional comparisons and critique of urban policies in France and, especially, the UK. The projects were a collaborative undertaking, with a number of national experts at Nordregio involved. Lukas Smas was the overall co-ordinator and editor. Liisa Perjo was responsible for Finland, Christian Fredricsson contributed the Norwegian part and Christian Dymén (now at Trivector) was responsible for Sweden. Julien Grunfelder was responsible for France while Timothy Andersson (currently a PhD Student at Tallinn University) wrote the UK section alongside contributions to the introduction and conclusion.

Consumption forms and is formed by the city. How, when and where commodities are transacted is essential in this urban drama of mutual relationships. This thesis explores how consumption and everyday life in cities are interrelated. The specific objective is to analyse how commodity transaction situations are configured and constrained in time and space, and, how consumer service spaces are formed in and are part of city formation. Transactions are conceptualised as economically and socially situated material projects constituted by consumers, commodities and producers. Commodities and values are transferred and created through transaction spaces. The theoretical perspective is framed around consumption and production of spaces, and particularly informed by Hägerstrand's time-geographical thinking and Lefebvre's work on urban space. Methodologically different examples of consumption projects and spaces are used to discuss configurations and formations for commodity transactions. The thesis stresses material and time-spatial constraints for commodity transaction and it discusses the blurring of boundaries between what conventionally has been separate social and economic activities and places. Changing transaction configurations and the formation of consumer service spaces in the city are explored through analysis of different consumption places and commodities such as books, coffee and clothes and property development projects in Stockholm city centre. Transaction configurations display geographical and historical continuities and changes as well as time-spatial flexibility and spatial fixity. Transactions spaces are continuously formed and reformed through processes embedded in the global cultural economy, urban development and politics, as well as through people's everyday life. Producers' strategic production and consumers' tactical appropriation of transactions spaces are accentuated as crucial in the spatial practice of transactions, places and city formation.

29 cm ; In some European countries, sub-national regions are important geographical arenas for spatial planning. However, in Sweden, statutory regional planning is rather limited and the regional level is often described as having a weak position in the spatial planning system. In this article, we investigate territorial governance practices in two Swedish regions, with a focus on their interaction with the EU and the national level, and with the local level, as well as how these regions function as organisations and arenas for coordination of different policy fields. The study is based on semi-structured expert interviews and document analysis. The results show that spatial planning is practised both through statutory planning and soft planning approaches, and that these practices in different ways coordinate sectoral policies i.e. transport infrastructure and regional development. Both cases also illustrate difficulties not only of external coordination between different institutions and policy fields but also internally within organisations. It is also highlighted that spatial planning at the regional level focuses on coordinating actors and policy fields but that spatial planning is also an instrument to implement regional policies. In conclusion, it is argued that the organisation and territorial governance practices within a given institutional arrangement and the perception of spatial planning are crucial in determining how regions might function as multi-level coordination actors and policy arenas within spatial planning. ; 29 cm ; Każdy numer posiada własny tytuł. ; In some European countries, sub-national regions are important geographical arenas for spatial planning. However, in Sweden, statutory regional planning is rather limited and the regional level is often described as having a weak position in the spatial planning system. In this article, we investigate territorial governance practices in two Swedish regions, with a focus on their interaction with the EU and the national level, and with the local level, as well as how these regions function as organisations and arenas for coordination of different policy fields. The study is based on semi-structured expert interviews and document analysis. The results show that spatial planning is practised both through statutory planning and soft planning approaches, and that these practices in different ways coordinate sectoral policies i.e. transport infrastructure and regional development. Both cases also illustrate difficulties not only of external coordination between different institutions and policy fields but also internally within organisations. It is also highlighted that spatial planning at the regional level focuses on coordinating actors and policy fields but that spatial planning is also an instrument to implement regional policies. In conclusion, it is argued that the organisation and territorial governance practices within a given institutional arrangement and the perception of spatial planning are crucial in determining how regions might function as multi-level coordination actors and policy arenas within spatial planning.

Urbanisation is strong in the Nordic countries, with people and capital being concentrated into growing, expanding city regions. These urbanisation processes of concentration and expansion, and explosion and implosion are challenging traditional forms of planning and creating tensions within current planning systems and procedures, along with new forms of urban governance and policies in a number of ways. In the current age of austerity, there is an increased interest and need in finding new solutions and alternatives to provide housing, offices and other services to the new citizens. In addition and in parallel to this, in postpolitical Europe, there is also an increased emphasis on citizen engagement and public participation because of the perceived gap between politics and people's everyday lives.

AbstractThis paper brings a geographical perspective to debates in research on knowledge and learning for the innovation of products and firms. The importance of understanding the development of "composite knowledge," which should be understood as knowledge developed through the bridging of different knowledge fields, is stressed. The empirical focus of the study is medical technology. The arguments in this paper are based on a literature review, secondary data, and a "knowledge biography" case study of a firm located in Stockholm, Sweden. The discussion describes how knowledge networks may be multilocal, thus connecting partners in local, national, and international geographical settings. This paper shows that synergies and complementary relations between regional, network, and corporate spaces are focal points for the processes of knowledge dynamics. It also illustrates how "soft" factors in innovations (in addition to important and "hard" factors of technology and functionality improvements, for instance) are important. "Soft" factors include market, process and input innovations, and aesthetic expressions.

Demographic changes, such as urbanisation, ageing populations, and international migration, have significant effects on local development. This study examines the relationship between demographic changes and housing, focusing on different local demographic situations and related housing and planning strategies in the Nordic states. Nordic metropoles (Stavanger and Aalborg), regional centres with universities (Växjö and Sønderborg), medium-sized towns (Ålesund and Örnsköldsvik), and rural areas (Pargas) have different local demographic challenges and potentials. In all types of studied municipalities, an ageing population is typically seen as the most important challenge for the future, especially if younger people are moving out and fertility rates are low—but there are exceptions. How this challenge is met differs somewhat across the different municipalities examined here, but there seems to be a preference for attracting younger people rather than accommodating elderly populations, and a focus on development strategies rather than adaptive tactics. Depending on size and resources, most of the municipalities have ambitious statistical prognoses and strategic policies to integrate demographic changes and housing, but it is not entirely clear if such prognoses depend upon future housing developments or vice versa. How housing strategies are implemented differs between the municipalities, with some being very active through land politics and other forms of interventions, while others perceive their role as limited. However, it is evident that urban densification is a general spatial development strategy in Nordic municipalities, but balanced geographical development is often emphasized as well.

The objective of the COMPASS project was to provide an authoritative comparative report on changes in territorial governance and spatial planning systems in Europe from 2000 to 2016. This Final Report presents the main findings, conclusions and policy recommendations. The COMPASS project compares territorial governance and spatial planning in 32 European countries (the 28 EU member states plus four ESPON partner countries). COMPASS differs from previous studies in that the accent is not on a snapshot comparison of national systems, but on identifying trends in reforms from 2000 to 2016. It also seeks to give reasons for these changes with particular reference to EU directives and policies, and to identify good practices for the cross-fertilisation of spatial development policies with EU Cohesion Policy. The research is based on expert knowledge with reference wherever possible to authoritative sources. Experts with in-depth experience of each national system were appointed to contribute to the study. The research design involved primarily collection of data from the 32 countries through questionnaires and five in-depth case studies of the interaction of EU Cohesion Policy and other sectoral policies with spatial planning and territorial governance. ; ESPON COMPASS Comparative Analysis of Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning Systems in Europe