WHO GOVERNS THE INTERFACE? Coexistence and the limits of municipal planning

Abstract

With the current climate, energy and food security targets, including the EU Green Deal and Sweden’s ambition for 100% fossil-free electricity by 2040, pressures on marine space increase and competition rises between established uses, like fisheries, and emerging ones, like aquaculture and offshore wind. While Marine Spatial Planning has received considerable scholarly attention, less attention has been given to how municipal land-based planning engages with the spatial needs of these sectors and shapes their coexistence. This thesis therefore explores how these sectors interact across the land-sea interface and what the role municipal spatial planning in governing those interactions is. It applies an interdisciplinary comparative case study approach inspired by the ESPON one space perspective, planning and geography of innovations theory to two Swedish West coast municipalities – Strömstad and Lysekil. Findings indicate that cross-sector interactions are cumulative and interdependent rather than sector specific. Spatial conflicts are more prominent offshore, while onshore space is less currently contested, partly due to emergent coexistence patterns developed outside formal planning. Municipal planning aims to support coexistence but is structurally limited by regulatory frameworks with the permitting authority above local level, reducing municipal influence. Sector actors similarly perceive municipal planning as having limited impact on operational decisions. Thus, differences between municipalities reflect the local conditions and socio-economic dynamics rather than planning instruments' effects. This raises fundamental questions about the role of municipal planning and asks for a better integrated governance across the land-sea interface.