The Form, Style, and Use of Cartographic Visualisations in European Spatial Planning: Examples from England and Germany

In most traditions of spatial planning in Europe, planning policy documents involve a symbolic representation of the territory in the form of icons, diagrams, and maps. There are, however, significant national and regional differences in the use of cartographic visualisations in strategic spatial planning in European countries, which can cause problems when several countries come together to discuss policy options for a transnational territory, as for the preparation of the European Spatial Development Perspective. In an attempt to understand better the differences in visualising spatial policy in different planning traditions, this paper reports on findings from an analysis of the form of cartographic visualisations in strategic spatial planning documents in England and Germany. In particular, differences in the written and visual representations of spatial policies, and the ‘scientific’ or ‘artistic’ representation on policy maps are considered. The findings show that, although the function of plans in the planning system ultimately determines the form and style of visualisations, traditional and ‘scientific’ representations seem to dominate planning at regional level in these countries, and experiences with an ‘artistic’ style of visualisation are limited. The paper concludes with a discussion of the relevance of these findings for transnational spatial policy processes, where a communication-oriented use of cartographic visualisations appears most appropriate.