Thinking and acting spatially: Globalization, critical geography and planning

Abstract

This paper presents a series of "critical geographies": examples of economic, environmental and social challenges with a spatial dimension, and the way that policy has failed to respond adequately to them with place and space in mind. Overshadowed by the globalization/mondialisation concept, for a variety of reasons, policy and decision making too rarely incorporate the implications of the ways we use the land and the consequences for different places. The neglect of place, in particular the way that different policies combine to affect places in different ways, has contributed to a range of negative economic, social and environmental outcomes. This paper makes some suggestions for ways in which spatial thinking can be advanced in policy and decision making. In particular, to advance a greater spatial intelligence, we need to develop central spatial analytical maps for policy-makers - a kind of "GIS for policy". Many countries lack single documents which provide an overarching framework about the spatial dimension of policies and programmes, and how they interact (including the unintended consequences) to affect the development of the country.

Rad predstavlja seriju tzv. Kritičkih geografija, odnosno primera ekonomskih, ekoloških i socijalnih izazova sa prostornom dimenzijom, te prikaza neuspeha politika koje su na te izazove pokušale da odgovore usled zanemarivanja prostornog načina mišljenja. Zbog različitih razloga a pod svemoćnom senkom mondijalističkog koncepta, politike i odlučivanje retko obuhvataju posledice na način na koji koristimo zemljište i to na različitim mestima. Zanemarivanje mesta u geografskom smislu odnosno načina na koji politike imaju uticaj na konkretan prostor dovelo je do negativnih ekonomskih, socijalnih i ekoloških efekata. U radu su dati modaliteti u okviru kojih bi prostorni način mišljenja mogao bita inkorporiran u proces odlučivanja, sa posebnim osvrtom na razvoj prostornyh analitičkih karti za kreatore politika - jednu vrstu "GIS-a za političare". Mnogim zemljama nedostaju studije o prostornim posledicama ekonomskih i socijalnih politika i programa, te o uticaju njihove međusobne interakcije na ukupan razvoj države.