Strategic planning and city/regional development: Review, analysis, critique and applications for Greece

The aim of this paper was to analyze the impact of Strategic Planning (SP) in city/regional development, as well as to identify which strategies, in the context of planning, can be used for achieving local economic development. For that purpose, a review of the relevant literature was conducted. In the analyzed papers, different regions were used as case studies. Additionally, eight areas were identified in which SP was successfully implemented, namely: City/urban development, Tourism, Transportation, Health Care, Education, Energy, Land use and Housing, and Local Governance, revealing the wide applicability of strategic planning in regional development. Several key policies in the context of planning which lead to regional development were identified for each domain. The results indicated that there is a positive association between strategic planning and regional development. More specifically, it was found that strategic planning contributed to the economic development of the examined regions, indicating that it is an efficient tool which can be used by local authorities for enhancing the performance of their regions. The findings are expected to help local actors and urban planners to obtain a more comprehensive view of the advantages, effectiveness and limitations of strategic planning, as well as to identify which strategies mentioned in the academic literature, and were applied in other countries, can be used for achieving local economic development outcomes in Greek regions.