Plan-led planning systems in development-led practices

On the basis of quantitative data, the researchers found that the land-use plan has become more important: more land-use plans have been adopted, both in absolute terms and relative to alternative measures. But functionally, these land-use plans are used primarily to follow and facilitate development instead of guiding it. Development control is still (inevitably) driven by development proposals. Although the paper looks at the Dutch case, an analysis into the relationship between planning law and its institutionalisation (or the lack thereof) at the local level is worthwhile for a wider audience. In their quest to understand the effects of changes in the law on the practice of development control, the researchers use theories that look at the process of institutionalisation, especially of centrally designed formal institutions, such as legislation, that seek application at the local level, with its own (potentially conflicting) formal and informal institutions. They conclude the paper by arguing that changes in planning law are unsuccessful if they are not congruent with informal and formal institutions at the `street-level' and if there is a lack of sufficient incentives to change the behaviour of local actors.