Spatial Planning:

state of the art of the literature in Portugal and Brazil

Abstract

This is a study on the state of the art of the literature on spatial planning in Portugal and Brazil. Considering the historical influence of the Portuguese political-institutional culture on the Brazilian reality, the research sought to identify the development of territorial institutions in both countries, as expressed in the scientific literature. The methodological procedures included a systematized search of recent literature (January/2011-July/2020). The searches were conducted in the Scopus, Science Direct, Gale, Scielo and Web of Science databases. The analysis of the results was guided by the steps of methodi ordinatio, a multicriteria instrument based on the number of citations, impact factor and year of publication. The results identified relevant institutional differences between the two countries regarding spatial planning policies. The differences are due, on the one hand, to the continental context of each country. On the other hand, the differences result from the options for institutional arrangements that are characteristic of local political interests. As a result of these distinctions, there are differences in the agenda of the themes researched in the two countries, although the themes urban planning, environment and national territorial policy are predominant in both countries.