Navigating spatial justice: Exploring municipal planners’ logics in differentiated village planning

Abstract

An amendment to the Danish Planning Act in 2019 mandated municipalities to incorporate strategies for the differentiated development of viable villages. This marks the first national initiative in Denmark requiring strategic village development within statutory municipal planning. While municipalities have considerable freedom to adapt these strategies to local conditions, existing plans, and ongoing projects, this new requirement has led to diverse approaches to strategic planning across the country.

Drawing on data from 37 qualitative interviews with planners in Danish rural municipalities, we analyse how planners differentiate between villages at the municipal level, basing their decisions on both institutional and structural factors. We introduce a spatial justice matrix, encompassing dimensions of procedural and distributive justice alongside principles of equality and equity, to illustrate how municipalities' strategies for village development embody distinct interpretations of spatial justice. Some municipalities adopt a participatory, demand-driven approach, akin to a "first come, first served" principle, while others prioritize local service provision to distribute resources more equitably in line with targeted development objectives. Although each approach aligns with a different interpretation of spatial justice, these variations raise critical questions about the meaning and attainment of spatial justice in practice. As municipalities navigate these interpretations, disparities in development outcomes emerge across municipalities, highlighting a need for further discussion on inter-municipal equity and cooperation.