Conference Paper

In the last twenty years, the spatial development of Macedonia has been strictly focused on one area ‐ the capital city Skopje. Today, Skopje accommodates one‐third of the total population of Macedonia, two‐thirds of the total GDP and one‐third of the total national profit leaving the rest of the country’s territory spatially and economically underdeveloped. One of the main reasons for the unequal regional development of Macedonia is inconsistent urban and spatial planning in the past twenty years. In 2002, Macedonia started the process of decentralization, and adopted The Spatial plan of the Republic of Macedonia 2002‐2020 which presented a long‐term strategy for a balanced and equal regional and economic development of the country. In the years that followed, this plan failed to be accomplished, and consequentially, the spatial structure of Macedonia grew in the opposite direction, becoming even more centralized than ever before. In 2009, a new planning document was introduced in order to supplement the existing spatial plan with a solution for overcoming the alarming mono‐centricity. But instead of offering a solid and clear agenda, the new plan presented a copy of the European Union policy for polycentric development without making any adaptation to the current spatial structure of Macedonia. This chapter will explore the implementation of European Union regional policies within The Strategy for the Regional Development of the Republic of Macedonia 2009‐2019 in order to trace and predict the possible impact it could have on spatial planning practice and the development of the country.