Comparative analysis of spatial planning systems and policies: Case study of Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The paper contains an analysis and assessment of the planning system of three countries, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia, located in the area of Southeastern Europe and the Western Balkans. Comparative analysis of development of the planning system includes several aspects - the level of the presence of the strategic and legal approach to the planning documents, adhering to the principle of sustainable development with a developed system of the preservation of environment, the types of plans and planning competence at different territorial levels with an assessment of achieved decentralization and democratization, connection between the private and the public sector, land management. The issue of vertical and horizontal coordination, including territorial cooperation, the existence of monitoring and implementation of plans, the coherence of planned objectives and developments in the area, the degree of representation of theoretical methodology in planning documents, the classification of three countries into one of the four European planning systems, as well as other numerous problems and challenges for the future in planning and in the space of the three states are contained in this paper.