The pitfalls of family resemblance: why transferring planning institutions between ‘similar countries’ is delicate business

It is tempting, and in this age of intensified international information exchange only increasingly so, to look across the national state borders for promising planning institutions that have been developed elsewhere. This occurs usually with the hope and expectation that similar positive results can be achieved on domestic soil. It is commonly realised that the transfer of planning institutions from countries with very different political, legal and cultural traditions is difficult and that such transplants require lots of adaptation before they can be successfully implemented. It is less well known that copying planning institutions from similar countries, that is countries belonging to the same legal or cultural family, is hardly any easier. This article focuses on the process of institutional transplantation between similar nations and describes the mechanisms of success and failure with the help of several empirical examples in the field of spatial planning. The case of the refurbishment of the London Underground refurbishment based on the example of the New York Subway is analysed more in detail. The article concludes with a set of conclusions and recommendations aimed at helping future ‘transplanters’ to be more aware of opportunities and pitfalls of institutional transplantation.