The Adaptation of Territorial Governance from Unitary State Perspective: About the Framework of Functional Space Construction

Abstract

During the past twenty years all over Europe the proliferation of networked governance forms can be experienced, which do not harmonise with statutory state spaces. Parallel with this, in the planning theory, there is a discussion about the modernisation of planning and the birth of new spatial categories. ‘Soft spaces’, make state boundaries fuzzy and allow the space construction for public–private networks. The precondition of this process has been the rescaling of the state territories and the decentralisation or devolution of state power to new, multi-scalar spatial entities. This also means that sub-national governments, city-regions have been mobilised and were given new fields of action for the assertion of their interests, while national governments have kept their control over them. The paper will reveal the different characteristics of territorial governance efforts in CEE, especially in Hungary compared to highly developed countries. Significant hindrances in adaptation of governance structures can be recognised horizontally on the one hand, and weak vertical connections between the different political levels, owing to the rejection of decentralisation by the state, on the other hand. The analysis based on the institutional and regulatory environment proves the lack of desired authorisation of the local and subnational levels for network-building and taking part in the national planning scheme.