By launching the Vision Planet project, the partners wanted to develop a framework for analysis and projection in order to achieve greater spatial integration and a more coherent development of the CADSES region.

The transnational area known as CADSES (Central Europe, Adriatic, Danube and South East Europe) cuts across the centre of Europe and encompasses

Vision Planet was able to achieve some interesting results, which showed that the project has real influence on the development of territorial policies. The participants drew up a map of the regions which were more advanced in regional planning, took stock of the diversity characteristic of the area covered by the project, shed light on critical situations and established contacts between various regional government agencies according to their respective areas of responsibility.

The method applied in Vision Planet consisted of gradually setting up a framework of dialogue and cooperation between the area's regional planning authorities. By setting up these structures, the participants wanted to achieve more transparency and a common basic vision to define a more long-term regional planning strategy. Unlike the experience acquired in other transnational projects, this was an entirely new approach in the political context of CADSES.

Completed at the end of 2000, the project has provided a comparative view of the different regional planning policies, enabling government agencies to see in what fields they are making progress and where more effort needs to be made. The countries where these policies have been implemented recently can benefit from the results of Vision Planet to better define their regional development policy and to explore new methods. The project has also influenced decisions on the use of European funding in the applicant countries. For example, participation in the project has helped the Romanian and Hungarian authorities to implement PHARE transnational programming.

Total cost: 987 495 euros
EU contribution: 540 602 euros

German Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, tel. +49 228 862 310

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Urban Policy