“Down in the forest something stirred”: issues raised by the Lyndhurst planning inquiry

The Planning Inquiry is used in Britain as a vehicle for resolving conflicts between energy developments and land use in areas of high ecological or amenity value. This is a report of one such inquiry; the Lyndhurst Inquiry which has been regarded as a test case of establishing oil and gas reserves against the importance of environmentally sensitive areas. The ultimate decision is seen as indicative of the complexity of issues involved.     

The role of participation in the planning process: examples from Sweden

Participation in decision-making has successively developed into a guiding principle at both EU and national level. However, diverse perspectives exist on what the role of different interests in participative processes should be, and the legal rules regarding participation varies between different sectors; from clearly defined to virtually non-existent requirements. This may have adverse effects on the legitimacy of decisions and decision-making. This paper reviews the role of participation in the planning process in relation to natural resource development in Sweden, as guided by EU and international law. Based on the notion of effective participation, the study illustrates the potential clashes that may result from different conceptions of participation, for instance, at various levels of governance, as well as from disparate principles for implementation in different sectors.     

Redistributive state planning: toward an operational framework for an effective spatial development planning

The paper starts from an assessment of regional policy inspired by considerations of social justice. An effort is made to sketch the outline of a top‐down and bottom‐up approach and provide a new profile for regional planning, and for professional planners within the context of contemporary politico‐economic transformations. The planner, from having been a pure technician who does not question the nature of problems faced, must become actively engaged in, and committed to the problems and conflicts of the area, and to the specific proposals put forward.     

The relevance of physical forces on land-use change and planning process

This study analysed the importance of physical forces on land-use change, on the planning framework in a Portuguese periurban area. A temporal matrix showing the trajectories of land transformation was obtained. A multivariate redundancy analysis explored the importance of physical parameters on temporal and spatial land-use change. A content analysis on urban or municipal master plans was made framing the importance of physical parameters on the planning process. The results highlighted a consistent trajectory of profound land-use changes with distinctive trajectories, with increasingly complex patterns with a limited dependence on physical variables. The trajectories were more related to the planning framework, where political actors and planning managers seemed to be most important. A theoretical model balancing three main components – physical forces, actors, and land transformation (DFA-C model) is proposed, reflecting the informal relationships between physical parameters and actors during the planning process.     

Environmental planning,ecosystem science,and ecosystem approaches for integrating environment and development

Currently popular concepts such as sustainable development and sustainability seek the integration of environment and development planning. However, there is little evidence that this integration is occurring in either mainstream development planning or environmental planning. This is a function of the history, philosophies, and evolved roles of both. A brief review of the experience and results of mainstream planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science suggests there is much in past scientific and professional practice that is relevant to the goal of integrated planning for environment and development, but still such commonly recommended reforms as systems and multidisciplinary approaches, institutional integration, and participatory, goal-oriented processes are rarely achieved. “Ecosystem approaches,” as developed and applied in ecology, human ecology, environmental planning, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines, may provide a more transdisciplinary route to successful integration of environment and development. Experience with ecosystem approaches is reviewed, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, and they are compared to traditional urban and regional planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science approaches. Ultimately a synthesis of desirable characteristics for a framework to integrate environment and development planning is presented as a guide for future work and a criterion for evaluating existing programs.     

Regional policy and recession: a new role for planning?

The recent central government paper on regional industrial development heralds a reduced role for regional policy, in contrast with the Regional Studies Association inquiry into regional problems in the U.K. A brief exploration of the central government views leads to the paper concluding with a call for an increase in regional planning and for regional planning authorities.     

Mixed land‐use patterns and the development of spatial structure of Nigerian cities

Differences exist in the spatial structure of cities in both the developed and developing world owing to the contradistinctive nature of their urban growth processes. The structure of Nigerian cities is characterised by the preponderance of mixed land uses resulting primarily due to the organic nature of city growth and more fundamentally, owing to the dynamics of informal urban economic activities. This paper examines mixed land‐use patterns in selected Nigerian cities and appraises their relevance in the general city growth process. By suggesting principles and speculative spatial patterns expressing desirable use combinations, an attempt is made to rationalise the utility of the concept such that its environmental impact is understood and given planning resolution.     

Planning,governance and rural futures in Australia and the USA: revisiting the case for rural regional planning

Rural regions in post-industrial countries confront significant new challenges, particularly in relation to climate, biodiversity, unconventional resource development and energy. Yet at a time when the contours of these challenges are still being sketched, and preliminary, planned interventions undertaken, the practice of rural planning finds itself at a low ebb. We examine two ‘critical cases’, one each from Australia and the USA, to explore the issues and options for capacity of rural regional planning to surmount these new challenges. Our examination indicates the urgent need for a renewed discourse on rural regional planning.     

Adaptation of local building materials — a key to rapid housing development in Nigeria

There are some experts who are dealing with research on locally made materials for building in the Ministry of Housing and Works in Nigeria. It has been discovered in the Ministry that lateriate clays can be fired and used for building even two‐storey buildings depending on the firing and the pressure (Ogunbamwo, 1975). The Ministry has constructed a block of bungalows of low‐cost housing units with mud at Ikoyi, off Kingsway Road. No one will know that these houses are mud houses if not at closer inspection. Unfortunately, no effort has been made to continue or improve on this laudable adventure in Nigeria.     

The future of local planning and development control

This paper examines the various pressures for state action in respect of land use and environmental management. It then considers the processes through which these pressures are currently being articulated into policies and actions. A brief assessment of the effectiveness of local planning practice follows and then the paper considers the questions which should be addressed in land use and environmental issues in the UK.     

Innovative approaches to rural development: Moving from state-controlled towards market-based land reform

Among the world's poor, approximately 75% of those in extreme poverty live and work in rural areas and two‐thirds of them depend mainly on farming or farm labour for their livelihood. Policies to grant the rural poor secure access to land and water for irrigation — and to improve the economic efficiency of small‐scale agriculture — can thus play a critical role in the implementation of rural development strategies, including efforts to combat rural poverty. Since inadequate access to arable land is probably the most important cause of rural poverty, redistributive land reform is increasingly seen as crucial for socio‐economic development and poverty alleviation in many developing countries with substantial amounts of (unused) arable state land or (under‐utilized) large private landholdings. This article argues that market‐based land redistribution schemes, such as the one being implemented in South Africa, can be considered one of the most innovative approaches to land reform that have emerged over the last decade. These schemes thus provide a useful alternative to more conventional, state‐controlled land redistribution programmes. The article concludes, however, that when countries opt for market‐based approaches to land redistribution, the State still has an important role to play, without necessarily deciding which land parcels change hands.     

Land use planning,pollution control and environmental assessment in the E.C. environment policy

The Environmental Council of the European Communities is giving consideration to a procedure to provide a common basis for the assessment and control of potentially polluting development. This discusses the rationale and theory underlying the use of land use planning procedures to control potentially polluting development, and the need for harmonisation of procedures within the European Communities in order to avoid the emergence of pollution havens. It goes on to discuss the proposed Directive on environmental assessment, and the implications of its adoption and incorporation into the planning procedures of the U.K. and other member states.     

Privatisation,liberalisation and simplification of Statutory land use planning in Britain

A central government Consultation Paper issued in 1984 argues the case for simplified planning zones. These are seen to offer greater speed and certainty to developers and are closely related to the Enterprise Zone concept. This paper examines the context to the proposal, reviews the details of the Consultation Paper, and identifies the nature of the response to the idea.     

Economic planning for depressed regions in the United Kingdom

This paper attempts five tasks. First, it briefly traces the collapse of regional economic planning since the mid 1970s. Second, it re‐assesses the case for regional economic planning. Third it asks whether a statutory economic development role for local authorities is the way forward. Fourthly, it critically evaluates current practice in economic development in a depressed area using the Newcastle City region as an example. Finally the paper concludes by outlining the nature of the applied research necessary to underpin a more rational approach to regional economic development planning, referring to the example of the Regional Industrial Research Unit established in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.     

Evaluation of environmental impacts of large scale physical development in central Galilee: Role of experts and policy makers

This article reports on the content and process used to evaluate environmental impacts caused by the development of 50 new settlements in the central Galilee region in northern Israel between 1978 and 1988. Some 60 different environmental and developmental factors and their interrelationships were identified. Selected physical changes that were defined as impacts were later evaluated. The evaluation method was based on intensive use of interviews with resource scientists and decision makers as experts. The data from interviews were used as the basis for factors identification, impact screening, and their rating. Experts used three types of criteria in the latter process: intensity of impact, the potential for its mitigation and compatibility with existing natural resource conservation, and environmental quality protection policy. Researchers concluded that reliance on experts with broad local experience eliminated the need for a more structured and detailed assessment method. The case study shows that experts provided creditable and reliable findings. They substituted the need for long periods of observation and largescale and costly data gathering, analysis, and evaluation.     

Theory in practice: the anatomy of a borough plan

This paper focuses on the development plan activities of the London Boroughs and simply seeks to explain the relatively limited progress that has been made in the preparation and adoption of statutory local plans, by showing how production was constrained as local planners were caught up in the shifting ground of contemporary planning theory. The author suggests that uncertainty about the acceptable scope and content of local plans, at a time when planners were being encouraged to extend the emphasis of their work beyond the purely physical, led to serious problems as planners began to experiment with new approaches to local planning but failed to appreciate the operational implications of each approach.     

The contribution of non‐timber forest products towards sustainable rural development: The case of Candelilla wax from the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico

The promotion of development projects based on the commercialization of non‐timber forest products has increased in recent decades, showing a positive contribution to rural development; yet it has led to controversial approaches in resource preservation. This paper examines the case of Candelilla wax from the Chihuahuan Desert in northern Mexico, identifying its potential contribution to poverty alleviation in marginal areas, and its unique opportunity to access potential markets of a wide variety of industries all around the world. In this paper, the authors base their analysis on three main aspects: social, economic and environmental. Potential benefits that could be obtained from the collaboration of private institutions, development organizations, policymakers and rural producers through integrated rural development projects are featured.     

Tradable planning permits versus auctioned tradable development rights: different trading agents,different policy outcomes

The tradable planning permit (TPP) policy seeks to limit the land take by development. It can be used in countries where development rights are vested by land-use planning to certain landowners only. TPPs are traded among public authorities. We introduce here a new policy, called the auctioned tradable development rights (ATDR) policy, which takes advantage of unvested rights of development and of trading among private actors. We compare the TPP, the ATDR policy and our baseline land-use planning model using a set of criteria. There are trade-offs within compared models. Both trading policies extend opportunities for land protection from development in exchange for higher transaction costs (highest in the ATDR policy). Trading policies seek also to recapture a part of development rent, decrease rent-seeking, and locate new development more effectively from the investors' perspective. However, trading among public authorities in the TPP model may hinder attaining these effects.