How exceptions to land use regulations enter planning legislation. The Flemish case of rebuilding non-conforming dwellings

Existing research shows that exceptions, i.e. planning permissions for developments that deviate from land use regulations, have become common in planning as a means of addressing unique or urgent building project needs. In Flanders, the Northern region of Belgium, one can observe a long history of exceptions ever since the Belgian government implemented territory-wide national land-use plans in the 1970s. However, how the legal provision for granting exceptions became embedded in planning legislation has never been the subject of academic research. This paper fills this gap by examining the decision-making process behind the 1999 legal provision for rebuilding residential dwellings in agricultural zones in Flanders (i.e. non-conforming dwellings). An analysis of parliamentary reports and press releases was complemented by semi-structured interviews with the top-level actors involved in this decision and the actors with whom they interacted down to the local government level. This actor-interaction-set analysis (AISA) revealed the subtle interactions between public, semi-public, and private actors in legislative decision-making processes. Additionally, we found seven different roles these actors personified in cross-level interactions: homeowners, caseworkers, high-level caseworkers, constituency advocates, lobbyists, associational advocates, and legislators. These actor-roles and their interaction-sets have enabled individual building projects to be subtly articulated into planning legislation.