RT Journal Article
T1 Evaluating the quality of urban development plans promoted by the European Union
A1 Navarro, Clemente J.
A1 Rodríguez García, María Jesús
A1 Guerrero Mayo, María José
K1 Sustainable urban planning
K1 Quality evaluation
K1 Index validity
K1 Indicators
K1 Urban policies
K1 European Union
AB Since the 1990s, the European Union has launched different programs to promote urban development plans. Implementation and outcomes evaluations have resulted in a “Europeanurban acquis” concerning the importance of comprehensiveness, collaborative governance, and participation to promote “good plans.” However, the evaluation of the qualityof local plans, has received less attention. This article analyses quality of local plans developed under the framework of European Policies in Spain applying the plan qualityevaluation approach, as well as factors explaining quality levels of these local plans. A scale to measure plan quality is proposed based on five main dimensions (fact base, objectives, policy actions, plan governance, evaluation). 64 local plans are analyzed applying content analysis. RgW and AD tests are used to measure codification reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to assess the validity of plan quality scale. Lineal regression is applied to analyze the impact of different aspects of planning process included in the ‘European urban acquis’ on plan quality. Main results show that CFA validates the scale proposed to measure local plan quality as a second-order factor; and point out objectives and policy actions as the most important first-order factors. Public participation during planning process, and more comprehensive plan across different policy areas, are the main factors explaining ‘good plans’. Therefore, the importance of the ‘European urban acquis,’ is confirmed in order to produce ‘good’ urban development plans; and the article provides a validated scale to evaluate the quality of urban development plans, and their main dimensions.
PB Springer
YR 2019
FD 2019-12-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/22785
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/22785
LA en
NO Navarro-Yáñez, C. J., Rodríguez-García, M.-J., & Guerrero-Mayo, M. J. (2020). Evaluating the Quality of Urban Development Plans Promoted by the European Union: The URBAN and URBANA Initiatives in Spain (1994–2013). Social Indicators Research, 149(1), 215–237. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48731562
NO Centro de Sociologia y Politicas Locales
DS RIO
RD Apr 23, 2026