The space of flaws – on the contradictions of integrated planning in a fragmented environment

In this paper, we critically investigate policy strategies that attempt to control spaces (housing) and flows (mobility) through so called integrative approaches, hypothesizing that they are flawed in design and ineffective in implementation. The research looks at processes in the small state of Luxembourg, which has pursued a niche strategy of national sovereignty development through a highly successful transition from an industrial based economy to one that rests on financial services, and a high degree of internationalization. This development trajectory, however, has created a set of deeply fragmented office-archipelagos that squeeze out housing, and generate massive commuter traffic. In response to these pressures, planning officials formulated a set of spatially integrative sustainable development guidelines that postulated sector integration, drawing upon normative orientations (central place theory), and prioritizing international objectives of European consolidation over local integration. Yet, they are flawed. A constructivist method was undertaken including document surveys, conversational interviews, and participant observation. Our results show that this centralist approach fails in meeting its mark, because instead of addressing problems of uncoordinated and conflicting authorities within and beyond the nation, they assume a clean system-wide durable “Russian Doll” architecture of state and institution. The result is further fragmentation through integration.