CHANGING INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE WESTERN BALKAN REGION. EVIDENCES FROM ALBANIA, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA AND CROATIA

The contribution aims at providing a preliminary insight on the evolution of the institutional framework for spatial planning in the Western Balkan Region since 1989. It does so by proposing a conceptualization of spatial planning domestic contexts as dynamic objects subject to continuous change, and by identifying the main driving forces that contribute to shaping their patterns of change in the geographical area at stake: (i) domestic transition from a centrally planned economic model to a decentralized model based on free market rules, (ii) process of European integration and the Europeanization mechanisms triggered by the latter. On this basis, the authors explore the territorial administration reforms and evolution of spatial planning legislation specific for Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia in the last 25 years in more detail manner, highlighting and discussing both similarities and difference