Methods to imply people in sustainable regional spatial development The need to imply people Planning of spatial development is no more a magisterial task of experts (Fürst 1996) . The concept of planning for the people has changed to become planning with the people, or sometimes even planning by the people. This has to do with ongoing democratisation and the decentralisation of power to the lowest possible level. The implication of civil society in determining the path to future grew both on

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... e grass-root level of city quarters (reconstruction) since the early 1970s (cf. Selle 1996 , Fürst 1996) and on the global level since the World Conferences after the Rio Summit. In particular, the UN conferences have been events that were firstly accompanied by unofficial parallel meetings of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO). Perceiving that NGO didn't aim at thwarting the official reunions, the organisers of the UN agreed to involve NGOs more and more into the negotiations about the ways that lead humanity into future. Beginning with the HABITAT II conference at Istanbul 1996, NGO, representatives of city deputies, sectoral and communal associations, trade unions, scientists, and the private sector could exchange their forum findings with those of the official forums, and lobbying in common committees was admitted. A similar collaboration between UN officials and NGOs took place at the 'Rio plus 5' conference at New York (1997). This 'new and equal partnership' led to an emancipation of the civil society and to the consciousness of joint responsibility (Keiner 1998).