Building consensus for network power? Some reflections on strategic spatial planning in the North West region of England

Abstract

This case study of collaborative regional spatial planning in the North West region of England seeks to understand if ‘network power’ provides a sufficient incentive for the politically stronger and institutionally established players (particularly local government) to adopt a more flexible approach to consensus building. An observed failure in this respect, due to the overwhelming strength of the parochial interests of local government under network governance, leads to a suggestion to incentivise greater collaboration and consensus building at the strategic level through what has been termed ‘meta-governed citizen power’.