*3.3. (Re)Stating the Concept of Values-Led Approach in Planning*

The scope of land management, which includes spatial planning as an activity in the planning domain, demands that a planning process, based on publicly or societally acceptable values, is a matter of necessity. This is because the direct ways to capture and fulfil the interest of the public exist in spatial-development affairs. Evidence from the empirical studies of Reimer et al. (2014) supports that new approaches to spatial planning are needed because various urban and rural areas are facing new challenges [19]. The VLP approach as prescribed by Auzin, š and Viesturs (2017) provides an opportunity for testing new values-led tools and techniques. As they put it [17] (p. 281):

"*Introduction of VLP approach based on consolidated new knowledge from stakeholders' experience and empirical evidence will help better understand and guide the relevant processes and their effects in specific territories based on the identified values (an outcome of expertise) and attitudes (stakeholders' preferences), thus avoiding such problems as, for*

*example, unplanned urban sprawl, environmental/landscape fragmentation and damage, unequally populated areas, remarkable differences in income, insolvent territories, etc. It is argued that* ... *implementation of the new approach within the proposed framework will lead to improved regional and local land-use policies and thus better territorial governance, developing more inclusive and resilient territories for the benefit of entrepreneurship, society, and nature. Innovation activities will be recognised, for example, when applying developed methodological guidelines in the planning process. Complex yet significant relationships between the values and preferences of the stakeholders concerning land use and development are to be assessed.*"

The study [17] is concerned with the conceptual background and feasibility aspects of the VLP approach. In contrast, this paper capitalises on the achieved outcome and provided arguments, thus proposing a methodology and pathway for its implementation.

The arguments for the VLP approach reflect the evolution of planning cultures and systems. For instance, during the period of the Ebola pandemic in West Africa, many communities clamoured for the reassessment of their public-health values in planning [46], intending to improve their funerals, cultural festivals, and other celebratory rites that make them vulnerable to pandemics. In the COVID-19 (or Coronavirus) period, radical changes in behaviour and attitudes to public facilities whether in urban, peri-urban, or rural areas have emerged. For instance, the practices of physical/social distancing in public spaces like playgrounds and parks are values-related planning issues that require integration into spatial planning. Values reflect the realities in the organisation of desired activities and well-being. Thus, if spatial planning is about situating people in the most convenient ways to ensure adequate living conditions, then values should form a critical consideration of the spatial planning process.

There are several values to be considered in planning. They all relate to the cultural, institutional, ethical, or ideological (or philosophical) sense of worth, which shapes how people decide, act, and appreciate the manner of life they live or want to live. In broad terms, values can be categorised in many forms. Spatial values can be in the form of intrinsic or extrinsic values. Intrinsic value reflects an ethical and philosophical property. Intrinsic values can manifest in planning because people have to make personal or group choices about their path to development "based only on how things possess inherent worth or satisfy their preferences" [47] (p. 1462). Intrinsic values can also manifest in how the people "consider the appropriateness of how they relate with nature and with others, including the actions and habits conducive to a good life, both meaningful and satisfying" [47] (p. 1462). These intrinsic values are relational because they are mostly based on life principles, preferences between options, and virtues linked with person-to-person and place-to-person relationships. Values can manifest in place-based relationships or a sense of place [48,49]. Such values can also be extrinsic. Thus, they are objectified in their physical worth, and they cannot be avoided since planning is about people and is done by people. Hence, a planning system that works to improve the existing living conditions and livelihood requires a planning approach that allows values-related issues (whether social, economic, or environmental), and their effects in specific territories are urgently needed. This is why a VLP approach is crucial for identifying the synergy that would enhance balanced socio-economic and environmental impact as well as governance in human settlements. Scholars have done preliminary work in defining the framework for understanding the VLP approach [17,18,22,27]. The missing piece is a methodology for making values-based spatial development a reality.

## **4. Framing the Path to a Methodology for VLP Approach in Spatial Development**

Spatial planning is "a multifaceted and highly complex activity, embedded in specific cultural contexts composed of interactive processes among involved actors, their cultural cognitive frames, and their particular social contexts" [50] (p.83). Values which emerge from a culture "play a mediating role between people or society and the environment, influencing people's intentions, way of life, sense of place, practices, norms, and rules" [51]

(p. 25). Therefore, VLP is essential because when communities prioritise their needs around what they value most, their efforts are bound to produce outcomes that matter most to them. In operationalising the EU Spatial Development Agenda, VLP has entailed putting values in place, promoting and integrating values in planning towards sustainable place-making and place-shaping.

The operationalisation of the VLP approach requires identifying those elements of its conceptual framework and reconciling them with existing empirical issues that are commonly accessible from the literature. In this regard, this study identified four key elements. These are values-accommodating and enable leading a spatial planning process to spatial development without negating values. They include (1) the nature of the physical "land-use" and "space" being planned [52], (2) the values-based "function" of spatial planning [53], (3) the values-based "principle" of spatial planning [54], and (4) the nature of "prevailing ideological and belief systems" under which spatial planning operates [55]. The nature of "land-use" and "space" is determined by the actual spatial planning, which considers the land use and spatial networks as means of administering uses to people and services, including nature—embracing all functions of space. However, spatial functions can be non-values-based. Participation is a major way to ensure that values-based functions are actualised in the planning process. However, this depends on the principles applied in spatial planning. Where bottom-up principles are applied, there is a tendency to embrace equity, equality, accountability, participation, and various others. Yet, all of these issues are concerned with specific beliefs and ideologies. It can be observed that ideologies and belief systems drive planning vision, which appears to guide success or failure. Four elements or dimensions of spatial planning (in Figure 2) are recognised as crucial in a spatial planning process because of their interaction that determines a relationship capable to lead a VLP approach in the planning process.

**Figure 2.** VLP is a consequence of an interaction between four key elements of spatial planning.
