How different responsibilities at regional level may improve the institutional conditions for integrated land use and transport policy at municipal, county, and state level is discussed on the basis of qualitative case studies, by means of document analyses and semi focused expert interviews. Three regional governance schemes were studied: the administrative pilot ofthe Kristiansand region in Norway, the former County model of Funen in Denmark and the regional model of Greater Hanover in Germany. The governanceschemes of the case regions could be described as three distinct models of enhanced regional governance. The cases thus differs in the relationshipbetween public authorities and other stakeholders (network governance), as well as in the relationship between the administration levels (multi-level governance). These differences have given us the opportunity to study the significance of variable institutional settings at local level as well as the significance of different national planning systems and competence schemes. It is argued that enforced regional governance is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for closing the gap between national policy goals and local implementation of an integrated land use and transport policy(such as urban concentration versus urban sprawl, reduced car use and improved public transport). Regional governance schemes face several challenges in achieving a more sustainable land use and transport planning: Firstly, the regional level is dependent on sufficient demand and support from national policy level and on consistent policy instruments. Secondly, historical patterns of settlement may constrain the possible choices at hand. Thirdly, the path dependency of institutions at both local and regional level may hamper changes in planning. Fourth, the range of competencies at regional level may be too limited to make a difference. All models of regional governance in the studied cases performed well as regional coordinationschemes both due to the institutional design, and to the quality of the dialogue between the stakeholders involved. There was little evidence that the local level, represented through the municipalities, had lost influence, through a stronger regional level. Hence, regional governance can foremost be seen as a required intermediating level between the national administrative and policy level (goals, instruments and planning requirements) and local planning interests. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999
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