Regional governance is coming to play an increasingly pivotal role in the planning of housing development. It has been argued that an absence of formal accountability lines in regional governance is beneficial because it makes inter-municipal coordination more flexible, without the need for territorial adjustments in local authorities. However, this view is based on a narrow interpretation of public accountability. In fact, regional governance becomes effective when hierarchical accountability arrangements are structured to reinforce horizontal accountability that strengthens self-organising capacity. This paper is based on a study of regional housing planning in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands, and analyses three types of governance modes (hierarchical, horizontal and market-oriented) and public accountability relationships. The measures undertaken in the case under review to ensure effective regional housing planning under changing market circumstances highlight the need to modify accountability arrangements when policy-makers choose a new set of governance modes in order to shape relational dynamics appropriately.

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2Planning new housing areas involves balancing many interests and local authorities must make decisions in a way that is accountable. Formal accountability is organised differently in plan-led and development-led planning systems. In planled systems, accountability relates to the question of whether development takes place in accordance with the plan, whereas in development-led systems, it relates to whether development is guided by a set of principles. In practice, however, planning systems mix plan-led and development-led ways of working. This paper compares accountability arrangements in a housing development project in a development-led system (Clay Farm and Glebe Farm in the Cambridge Southern Fringe in the UK) with one in a plan-led system (Keijzershof located between Rotterdam andThe Hague in the Netherlands). These arrangements are analysed for both the link between strategic planning and development project planning and the link between development project planning and the development on the ground.