Challenges in Land Use and Transport Planning Integration in Helsinki Metropolitan Region—A Historical-Institutional Perspective

Abstract

Land use and transport integration has been considered a must-have approach in achieving sustainable urban development. However, successful applications of the concept have been few, as institutional reforms to support land use and transport integration have lagged behind. Accordingly, this article argues that understanding difficulties in land use and transport integration requires an analysis of the long-term evolution of formal and informal institutional frameworks in planning practices. For this purpose, this article presents a case study of land use and transport planning in Finland’s Helsinki Metropolitan Region, which combines interview research on planners’ perceptions with a document analysis of the historical trajectories of the region’s plans, policy documents and related institutional and organizational changes. The historical-institutional approach of the article draws on discursive institutionalism as a novel analytical approach for studying how land use and transport integration is institutionally conditioned.