Discourses of mobility and polycentric development: A contested view of European spatial planning

This article carries out an analysis of the European Spatial Development Pe rspective (ESDP), a policy document which represents a critical moment in t he emergence of a new discourse of European spatial development, The analyt ical approach probes at the power relations which have shaped the ESDP fram ework and its contents,focusing on the twin core themes of spatial mobility and polycentricity. The analysis concludes that in the contested policy pr ocess a new spatial discourse of economic competitiveness is emerging at th e expense of social and environmental interests. This new discourse will be further contested as implementation takes place in an uncertain policy env ironment.