PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

433
space. Transport loans are usually either made to the national government or, in the case
of public transit, to the city. In sum, there is little opportunity in the setup of current
funding mechanisms to adequately account for the likely detrimental impacts of key
transport infrastructures at the agglomeration level. Clearly, this situation should be
rectified, if possible under EU Commission leadership. Additionally, local planning and
land use regulations need to be strengthened in order to counteract sprawling land uses
next to bypass exits and intersections.
10.5 Outlook: Suggestions for Further Research
Given the interdisciplinary scope of this study, there are a host of possibilities for
further research. Suggestions are likely to vary significantly depending on people’s
disciplinary roots. Political scientists might want to further investigate the relationship
between my developed “discursive frameworks” and other meso-level theoretical
constructs (such as epistemic communities, advocacy coalitions, discourse coalitions,
entrepreneurship), while urban geographers and regional economists might instead want
to further scrutinize the transformation of Budapest into an international logistics hub.
Meanwhile, enlargement specialists will be eager to study the further development and
de-centralization of the ISPA pre-accession instrument and its subsequent transitioning
into structural funding under member state status.
To me personally, the most appealing avenue for future research at the moment
would be a further refinement of the theory-building aspects of this study. Most
importantly, I would consider further elaborating my typology of “discursive
frameworks.” For example, does my differentiation into five different approaches for