This text describes the evolution of the French planning system (aménagement du territoire), aimed at ensuring homogeneous access to goods and services, as well as addressing biodiversity loss issues. The vertically vetted planning model typical to the civil law system couples with the horizontal subsidiarity of the common law system, based on binding agreements between public entities (the contract model). These aspects largely affect inter-municipal cooperation entities (EPCI), responsible for addressing sustainable development issues in a coordinated and integrated way.
Inter-municipality is a key feature of the aménagement à la française, in tackling the administrative fragmentation inherited from the municipal divisions designed on pre-existing parish districts after the French Revolution. Among the Projets de territoire available to the EPCI, the Schéma de coherence territorial (SCoT) is most performing in providing guidelines and legally binding objectives to be conveyed to local master plans. To achieve coordination among institutions at all involved levels, the SCoTs arrange sector policies in spatial planning and embed green infrastructure devised to counter biodiversity loss and climate change.
Despite the effectiveness of local authorities and the commitment of intermediate bodies bringing relevant competence and administrative management capacity in fulfilling such objectives, current economic conditions and conflict dynamics may hamper the welfare model, directly affecting the sphere of citizens’ rights.