Transparenz im kommunalen Planungsprozess: Dimensionen, Wirkungszusammenhänge, Wechselwirkungen und die Rolle von Evaluation für die raumbezogene Entscheidungsfindung

Municipal planning is a multidimensional decision-making process. Within this process, transparency is understood not only as access to information, but also includes the disclosure of evaluation standards, decision-making logic, and procedural steps. This paper examines the role and interactions of transparency in the municipal planning process from the perspective of the actors involved. Based on 19 guided expert interviews and a focus group, understandings, practices, and ambivalences of transparency are reconstructed qualitatively using four dimensions. The study also provides a qualitative contribution with a causal loop diagram of transparency, thereby highlighting spatial decision-making and procedural practices. The results show that transparency is considered necessary, but its implementation remains context-dependent and limited by resources, interests, and strategic considerations, and therefore only occurs selectively, while evaluations can help to structure transparency, make it measurable, and further develop decision-making processes. The paper makes an empirical contribution to planning research by conceptualizing transparency as a multidimensional governance practice and highlighting its organizational tensions. In addition, the opportunities offered by ex-post process evaluations in spatial decision-making processes are discussed, and impetus is provided for the integration and further development of evaluation research in this area.