Metropolitan governance in spatial planning

We need to address the metropolitan scale in spatial planning governance. In a moment where spatial challenges grow bigger, more complex and intertwined, the metropolitan scale level will be crucial in providing them with an answer through planning and design. However, the metropolitan scale in many regions hardly has any formal governance structures that can take responsibility on this spatial scale. Vereniging Deltametropool has looked into and characterised existing metropolitan governance in Europe. This research report is now available to download.

About the research

Vereniging Deltametropool has been commissioned by the municipality of Amsterdam to research spatial governance in metropolitan regions, and the difficulties that come with it. Spatial challenges are increasingly present on the metropolitan scale in urbanised areas, rather than just the urban scale. Vereniging Deltametropool has, through interviews, analysed the governance on this scale in five metropolitan regions in Europe, in order to identify the types of governance and their variables: Amsterdam, Prague, Copenhagen-Malmö, Ruhr and Paris. Each region approached governance through its spatial configuration and formal governance structure, and identifies how metropolitan governance fits within these administrative levels. A typology of organisations that work on the metropolitan scale shows that there are many differences between the roles that they can take on and their degree of formalisation, and their effectivity in their respective administrative systems. All organisations are attempting to find the flexibility in their tasks to take on a more strategic role rather than a facilitating one.

This research was made as a preparation for the conference “Celebrating the Future – Amsterdam 2100”, organised by the Municipality of Amsterdam, which takes place on 15 and 16 September 2025. During the conference, the results will be discussed and next steps for agenda-setting and international networking for this topic will be taken. Curious about what happens next? Get in touch with us.