WASET
	%0 Journal Article
	%A Fredrik Pettersson
	%D 2009
	%J International Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 30, 2009
	%T Infrastructure Planning in Scania a Discourse Analytical Approach to the Concepts of Regional Development and Sustainability in the Planning Process
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/12869
	%V 30
	%X The paper applies a discourse analytical approach to investigate important concepts influencing the infrastructure planning process in the region of Scania in southern Sweden. Two discourses, one concerning regional development and one concerning sustainability are identified, discussed and contrasted. It is argued that the perceptions of problems and their suggested solutions related to transportation are based on specific ideas, in turn dependent on the importance given to certain concepts, such as regional enlargement, Scania as a transit region, the national environmental quality goals and regional attractiveness. These concepts, their underlying meaning structures and their relevance for the infrastructure planning process are analyzed. The handling of conflicting interests in the planning process, and the possible implications this may have is also discussed. The results indicate that the regional development discourse is dominant and although the solutions to the problems caused by transport are framed in similar ways in the two discourses a harmonization between conflicting goals is proving difficult to achieve.

	%P 277 - 289