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Short title: Formal and Informal Planning Practices in GaliciaPlanning practices performed by non-governmental actors are often not considered as part the spatial planning domain. Spatial planning is generally associated with governmental activity: coordination that is aimed at a formal regulation of land uses and distribution of public goods. Nevertheless, the influence of other actors, like communities, is becoming increasingly important in planning studies. In this paper we argue that planning practices performed by local communities do deliver an important contribution to the improvement of local living circumstances. From the perspective of dialectics we explore how planning practices performed by communities and governments evolve and continuously shape and reshape the performance of spatial planning. These processes are studied qualitatively in rural Galicia, an Autonomous Region in North-Western Spain. Here we studied how two local communities developed and implemented their own plans for local public services and economic development. These two cases were studied in-depth through interviews with involved community members and field visits. Case study results show that a comprehensive recognition of dialectics is necessary to understand how a spatial organization is shaped. Without this understanding it is difficult to value the contribution of planning practices performed by communities to a better spatial organization.

This paper explores the selection and implementation of planning strategies and land use instruments for dealing with population decline in three different regions in the Netherlands. The study shows that each region developed very specific responses that can be explained by the different discourses that dominated planning and policymaking in that region. Although the perceptions about population decline, its consequences and suitable responses are strongly context specific, in all three regions responsible governments deemed it necessary to adapt existing policies and plans and to tailor strategies to a situation with population decline. The study also shows that ideas about using planning as a tool to stimulate economic growth prevail in the studied regions, but that it are precisely these ideas that hamper the development and implementation of policies for dealing with population decline. The paper also illustrates how Evolutionary Governance Theory can be useful for explaining why regions take different routes in dealing with population decline and for analysing the different dependencies that influence the selection of strategies.

Abstract:Planning research has increasingly recognised that planning in depopulating areas differs from planning in growth areas. Several studies have sought to identify planning theories and strategies that are capable of meeting the challenges presented by depopulating areas. However, most of these studies and strategies are based on dense urban environments. This paper seeks to add to planning theory and practice by focusing on informal planning practices in rural depopulating areas. Starting from a resource-based view, the paper introduces an analytical framework that allows a systematic examination of the resources that are generated through informal planning practices in such areas.Key words: Planning, informality, informal planning, resource-based approach, resource-based theory Sammanfattning: Planeringslitteraturen har nyligen börjat uppmärksamma att planering i områden med långvarig befolkningsminskning skiljer sig från den planering som äger rum i tillväxtområden. Flera studier har försökt utveckla planeringsteori och planeringsstrategier som kan möta de utmaningar som uppstår i områden med långvarig befolkningsminskning. De flesta av dessa studier, teorier och strategier utgår emellertid från täta, urbana miljöer. Denna artikel syftar därför till att lämna ett planeringsteoretiskt bidrag genom att fokusera på informell planering i landsbygdsområden som genomgår en långvarig befolkningsminskning. Med utgångspunkt i ett resursbaserat perspektiv introduceras ett analysschema som möjliggör en systematisk undersökning av de resurser som genereras genom informella planeringsinitiativ i sådana områden. Sökord: Planering, informalitet, informell planering, resursbaserat perspektiv, resursbaserad teoriOverzicht: Planologisch onderzoek laat in toenemende mate zien dat planning in krimpgebieden wezenlijk verschilt van planning in groeigebieden. Verschillende studies hebben geprobeerd planningstheorieën en strategieën te identificeren, die aansluiten bij uitdagingen waar krimpende regio's mee te maken hebben. Echter, de meeste van deze studies en strategieën zijn gericht op een stedelijke omgeving met een hoge bebouwingsdichtheid. Dit artikel richt zich op informele planningspraktijken, in rurale krimpgebieden; en heeft als doel om vanuit dat perspectief een bijdrage te leveren aan planningstheorie en strategieën. Met de resource-based benadering als uitgangspunt, introduceren wij een analytisch raamwerk waarmee op een systematisch wijze hulpbronnen, gegenereerd door informele planningspraktijken, kunnen worden geanalyseerd in krimpende regio's.Trefworden: Planning, informaliteit, informele planning, resource-based benadering, resourcebased theorie

By asking ‘what could geographers do for shrinking geographies’ Josefina Syssner offers a very comprehensive overview of what has been and should be on the research agenda’s for understanding rural shrinking geographies. In this commentary I would like to address three issues related to the Fennia keynote, that may add an additional perspective or a moment of reflection: 1) the issue of demographic change, rather than shrinkage, 2) how we can imagine the future of shrinking geographies, and 3) what Nordic perspectives have to offer. In conclusion, I believe that peripheral geographies, and challenged rurality’s deserve a key position within geography and related disciplines, and call for a repolitisation of the topic: what we research, how we conceptualise or even advice has consequences for those living and imagining futures in peripheral, rural and depopulating regions.