Such a system calls for joint approaches of all riparian countries. With the joint HELCOM-VASAB working group on MSP the Baltic Sea region has a governance mechanism which could provide

the necessary framework. This, however, will depend on the mandate of this working group which click here needs to be renewed by the responsible ministerial conferences in 2013 and 2014. Such a broadened mandate could encompass the development of joint visions and of a common framework on a pan-Baltic level. A renewed mandate should furthermore not neglect the relation between land and sea but should consider it as continuous space. As shown in this study the development of different marine space categories relates to population patterns on land and is also reflected in economic development in coastal areas. Spatial planning on land often works with different sets of planning visions and goals depending on the type of space which is being worked with [41]. Linked to this is often the definition of threshold values for each spatial category, e.g. for the type of activity within a certain space and for its intensity. In principle this concept could also be applied to marine space using the approach shown in this study. Ideally this would entail the development of a spatial typology on a larger scale based on more detailed spatial data. For the Baltic, such data is partly selleck kinase inhibitor available at a local and regional

level but not at a sea-wide level so both the scale and the quality of data used here lead to fuzziness regarding the categories of spatial boundaries. Small sub-spaces might be hidden

due to generalization. However, this issue is not unique to the sea, and indicates the case for typology development appropriate to different spatial scales of planning and management activity. Although this study focuses on the Baltic Sea, the approach used here to identify a spatial typology could be used elsewhere for seas worldwide. Depending on the studied region, scale and data quality similar analyzes might come to different results. Other seas, for example, may have further categories, e.g. European or global hubs where global maritime transport plays a major role (e.g. English Channel, Hangzhou Bay). In addition the approach could be extended to produce a maritime region typology encompassing both Progesterone land and sea, based on the relative intensity of land sea interactions. Such an approach could help to facilitate closer integration in spatial planning across the land sea divide. The research leading to these results has received funding from the ESPON Program (part-financed by the European Union) under number 2013/1/15 for the project “European Seas and Territorial Development Opportunities and Risks (ESaTDOR)” and from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement No. 266445 for the project “Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on Economic Sectors (VECTORS)”.