Managing stormwater for urban sustainability: an evaluation of local comprehensive plans in the Chesapeake Bay watershed region

This study uses a developed plan coding protocol in evaluating the quality of 76 comprehensive plans to examine whether local comprehensive plans have adequately integrated the concepts of sustainable stormwater management. The Chesapeake Bay watershed was chosen for the investigation because degraded stormwater runoff from nearby urban and suburban jurisdictions have critically polluted the watershed. The findings indicate that the majority of local governments have not sufficiently incorporated the sustainable stormwater management principles into their comprehensive plans. Five plan components (factual basis, goals and objectives, inter-organizational cooperation, policies, tools and strategies, and implementation) appear weak in realizing the concepts. The current study concludes by providing policy implications and recommendations to increase awareness and understanding of sustainable stormwater management concepts and to produce better implementation plans that integrate stormwater, ecosystem, and environmental planning comprehensively.     

Planning process influences on sustainability in Ohio township plans

This study examines planning process influences on plan sustainability scores for 46 township plans in Central Ohio, in the Midwestern Region of the United States. Townships face many similar development challenges as exurban communities along with cultures and economies which straddle urban and rural perspectives. The empirical analysis shows that participation breadth is positively related to sustainability scores, while the use of the sustainability concept in the planning process is negatively related to sustainability scores. Based on the findings, we suggest that communities preparing a comprehensive plan should encourage participation by a variety of groups in the planning process. Future research should examine the manner in which the sustainability concept is incorporated into the planning process to better assess its influence.     

Embracing sustainability: the incorporation of sustainability principles in municipal planning and policy in four mid-sized municipalities in Ontario,Canada

The issue of planning for sustainability is becoming more established within Canadian municipal planning. As municipalities begin to align their planning policy to reflect a more sustainable approach, there is an increased interest in how sustainability is being operationalised within municipal documents. This research aims to better understand how principles of sustainability are imbedded within Ontario municipal documents, with a specific focus on the Integrated Sustainability Community Planning approach that has emerged in Canada. Drawing on a nested comparative case study of four mid-sized municipalities, we uncover the language and strategies employed by the municipalities as they relate to the principles of sustainability developed by Gibson [2006a. Sustainability assessment: basic components of a practical approach. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 24 (3), 170–182]. The findings suggest that current policy-based approaches to sustainability are considering more socially oriented strategies focused on promoting community involvement, inclusive decision-making, equity, socio-ecological civility, long-term integrative planning, and responsibility through stewardship. However, there are potential limitations that will require future research to examine policy outcomes associated with sustainability uptake. The ICSP approach must still overcome the issues relating to lack of regulatory authority and the incorporation of policies based on popular trends rather than empirical evidence.     

Leadership in sustainability planning: propagating visions through empathic communication

Despite their lack of decision-making power, planners frequently prevail in advancing strong sustainability agendas. A review of leadership and planning literature suggests that they employ collaborative practice. Using an ethnographic methodology that draws from the stories and actions of six planners with sustainability mandates, supplemented with a survey of their staff and colleagues, this research examines how they do it. Findings suggest that despite variety in their organisational contexts, the planners relied on strong visions and on forging and maintaining relationships to set and implement sustainability mandates. The planners deployed participative and collaborative values selectively in support of their mandates.     

Urban sustainability and environmental justice: evaluating the linkages in public planning/policy discourse

Many cities' municipal governments have made some version of “sustainability” an explicit policy goal over the past two decades. Previous research has documented how the operationalisation and conceptualisation of sustainability in urban sustainability plans vary greatly among cities, particularly with respect to environmental justice. This article reports on whether and how large American cities incorporate environmental justice into their urban sustainability indicator projects. Our findings suggest that while there has been an increase in the number of cities incorporating environmental justice elements into sustainability plans since the early 2000s, their conceptualizations and implementations of sustainability remain highly constrained. The paucity of evaluative tools suggests that environmental justice efforts are potentially losing traction in public debate over macro-scale sustainability concerns (e.g. climate change) or the need for regionally competitive environmental amenities (e.g. parks). This paper concludes with suggestions for revising existing sustainability plans to better reflect environmental justice concerns.     

Urban climate change and sustainability planning: an analysis of sustainability and climate change discourses in local government plans in Canada

This paper clarifies the competing discourses of sustainability and climate change and examines the manifestation of these discourses in local government planning. Despite the increasingly significant role of sustainability and climate change response in urban governance, it is unclear whether local governments are constructing different discourses that may result in conflicting approaches to policy-making. Using a governmentality approach, this paper dissects the contents of 15 Canadian local governments’ sustainability plans. The findings show that there are synergies and tensions between discourses of sustainability and climate change. Both share discursive space and shape local governance rationalities, though climate change response logics are not necessarily highlighted even where the action could result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. In some cases, existing GHG intensive practices are being rebranded as ‘sustainable’. This suggests a tension between discourses of sustainability and climate change that may complicate attempts to address climate change through local sustainability planning.     

The implicit price of urban public parks and greenways: a spatial-contextual approach

This paper examines the value residents place on public parks in a mid-sized urban area. The analysis makes a direct contribution to the literature by examining the extent to which spatial and neighbourhood context is related to the house price premium or discount associated with public recreational opportunities, natural resource areas and urban greenways. The analysis shows that the value of public parks and greenways varies across space, neighbourhood context and park type. Community area fixed-effects are included to bolster the findings. The findings indicate that park and greenway investment should be planned and managed contextually in urban areas. Park planners can use these findings to inform public policy debates over park investment and, perhaps, support efforts focused on comprehensive neighbourhood planning.     

Engaging communities in municipal sustainability planning: the use of communication strategies and social networks in Alberta

In this paper we examine and compare communication processes aimed at building social networks and increasing citizen engagement in two communities participating in a municipal sustainability planning (MSP) pilot programme in Alberta, Canada, initiated by the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA). Data were gathered through qualitative semi-structured interviews and documentary review. In soliciting citizen engagement, each community utilised a variety of communication methods, based on available resources and on-going evaluation of community responses. In both cases, citizens developed a shared vision of a preferred future for their community, aided by a reconfiguration of their internal and external social networks. In addition to drawing upon and strengthening bonding relationships within the community, bridging relationships with external actors and agencies promoted knowledge mobilisation that aided in planning and transitioning towards sustainability. Both communities faced challenges as well, which the authors discuss in relation to the sustainability of MSP planning.     

Management of sustainability transitions through planning in shrinking resource city contexts: an evaluation of Yubari City,Japan

This paper evaluates the planning competences required to enact a managed transition to sustainability at the municipal level for cities facing population, economic and employment decline. Drawing on the ‘shrinking cities’ literature, we argue consolidation of the built environment can become a focal point for sustaining citizen welfare when transitioning cities that are facing decline, especially those previously reliant on resource industries. We evaluate the former coal mining city of Yubari, Japan, which is developing a consolidated urban form with the aim of creating a ‘sustainable’ future city. Findings from interviews and content analysis of Yubari’s planning policy indicate, however, that to translate ‘shrinking’ a city into a managed transition, spatial planning must be accompanied by a wider range of social policy measures and strong cross-sectoral engagement. We also caution that the unique geographical and political context of Yubari mean its model may not be directly replicable in other contexts.     

Planning for cooler cities: a plan quality evaluation for Urban Heat Island consideration

ABSTRACT

City strategic plans and enabling policies provide a framework for and inform future development across multiple scales. An exemplar city strategic plan will be one based on evidence, enabled by complementary policy outcomes, and built on the knowledge of the existing landscape. This study evaluated the plan quality of eighteen metropolitan strategic plans for city members in the 100 Resilient Cities initiative. A protocol was developed containing thirty-two indicators to assess plans capacity to act as a strategic planning tool to develop, analyse and implement strategies for the Urban Heat Island (UHI) and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The evaluation indicated that strategies addressing the UHI are rarely included in metropolitan plans. Strategic plans showed a lack of evidence-base to inform the potential actions. Urban warming is often linked to extreme weather events anticipated under climate change, not the UHI as a systemic and increasing phenomenon. We recommend that the pathway to addressing UHI mitigation and adaptation may lie in its nexus to aspects of climate change that concurrently can serve to support liveable and resilient cities.     

A multidisciplinary sustainability index to assess transport in urban areas: a case study of Donostia-San Sebastian,Spain

The management of urban transportation systems represents one of the most formidable challenges for local government that generates several problems related to the well-being and the comfort of the public that commute and travel in their daily life. Improvements to various policies and practical measures can move us closer to the ideal of sustainable urban areas with sustainable urban transportation systems. Nevertheless, these aspirations in no way ensure unanimity over the most effective actions to take and the extent of their benefits. In response, a mathematical model has been developed for decision-taking purposes using multi-criteria analysis adapted to urban transportation systems. This model not only takes account of environmental parameters, but also examines economic, social and urban models, the characteristics and condition of the transport fleet and freight distribution vehicles, in order to generate a sustainability index value for the transportation system of urban areas.     

Green infrastructure and planning policy: a critical assessment

Advocates of the green infrastructure (GI) concept claim it offers a progressive planning approach that facilitates synergies between economic growth, environmental conservation and social development. Although widely endorsed by both planning practitioners and academics, little academic literature exists critically evaluating what GI entails or the potential implications of its institutionalisation within planning practice. This paper addresses this deficit by critically examining the interpretation and representation of the GI concept in planning policy. The paper first critically analyses international interpretations of GI. Following this, the particular attributes of GI's interpretation in the Republic of Ireland are investigated. The paper demonstrates how the emergence of GI in Ireland relates to broader debates on attempts to reconcile environmental concerns with development aspirations in planning policy. It is deduced that GI may represent an approach to planning policy formulation wherein habitat conservation initiatives are primarily designed and justified relative to the ecosystems services they are seen to provide to society. The paper also cautions against the risks posed by confining GI debates to the deliberations of technical specialist. The paper concludes by identifying some issues that may arise in the implementation of a GI approach and suggests ways to enhance the potential benefit of the concept's use in spatial planning.     

The local nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in American cities: a preliminary exploration

This paper reports on the results of a study of the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the pursuit of sustainability in 13 moderate sized US cities with populations between 400,000 and 600,000. Dividing the cities into two groups – those that have been more serious and less serious about adopting and implementing sustainability policies, analysis of a survey of local public officials examines differences in the nonprofit landscape. Analysis shows that the cities that are more serious about sustainability have local public officials who interact more with nonprofit organisations, and are more likely to report the presence of at least one nonprofit group that supports city sustainability policies. Additionally, these reported groups are more likely to be “local”, or homegrown, and to be explicitly dedicated to the environment or sustainability. While far from definitive, the results provide evidence that the nonprofit sector is different in cities with sustainability policies, and suggest that the role of these nonprofit groups in the governance decisions of city leaders warrants more in-depth study.     

The Green Village project: a rural community's journey towards sustainability

In the South West of the UK, a growing number of rural and urban communities are exploring various pathways to a more sustainable living. The village of Belstone is among these pioneers of change through its Green Village project. It is a relatively affluent community and it has been a major challenge to engage people that are reticent to change their lifestyle and suspicious of the motives of the initiators. Based on a process of action research, this paper explores the attitudes and perceptions towards sustainability and how they influenced the people's engagement. We demonstrate that the partnership was effective in enabling the villagers engaged in the project to take control over the process. Behaviour changes were reported by the villagers actively engaged with the initiative. The Green Village did not “snowball” to the entire community; however, many of those who chose not to engage associated the word “Green” with traits that they did not identify with.     

The forgotten pillar: a definition for the measurement of social sustainability in American cities

This article provides a timely review of the interdisciplinary and disjointed literature on social sustainability and identifies some readily available measures of this concept for American cities. Based upon a comprehensive review of the literature, four broad dimensions are identified as being reflective of social sustainability: equal access and opportunity, environmental justice, community and the value of place, and basic human needs. Breaking these four dimensions into measurable indicators, this research provides a method for researchers and for American cities to begin to evaluate and to assess social sustainability efforts within their jurisdictions.     

From mute to reflective: changing governmentality in St Petersburg and the priorities of Russian environmental planning

This paper analyses, by using a constructivist methodology, how sustainability is perceived by Russian urban and regional planners and how environmental planning is understood on a discursive level. The planning discourse, which was reconstructed primarily with the help of 14 thematic interviews undertaken in St Petersburg, is positioned on the axes of the triangle of planning contradictions. The analysis shows that the promoted planning paradigm – the interpretations about the priorities of environmental planning – stem from the expert-centred approach of the Soviet era, and poorly suits the changing governmentality of St Petersburg. Due to regime changes, a significant step from a mute to a reflective governmentality was taken in St Petersburg, but the professional planning discourse is in conflict with this context reality and prohibits a more sustainable planning standpoint from developing.     

Incorporation of biological information in water quality planning

Progress toward the goal of restoring integrity to the waters in the United States has been difficult to assess. This difficulty may arise from the type of regulatory policy that has been traditionally used. With the advent of widespread wastewater treatment, the use of a planning approach employing receiving water impact standards may offer a more practical and direct means of defining and assessing integrity. Biological community response is shown to offer an integrated approach to implementing and evaluating water quality management policy. The state of Maine (USA) has revised its water quality law by utilizing biological community response to assess integrity. This law is presented as a model that employs impact measures and a planning approach for the implementation of water quality management policy.     

Measuring the linkage between strategies on sustainability and institutional forces: an empirical study of Spanish universities

Policy documents are commonly identified as key outcomes that guide initiatives directed by senior university leaders towards sustainability through plans and policies. Many studies have called for a more integration of sustainability into universities. Nevertheless, the interest in sustainability issues has been more recent in the specific case of Spain. This study analyses the strategic plans developed by Spanish universities in the last decade with two different aims: first, we examine the extent to which Spanish universities are incorporating strategies on sustainability. The second goal evaluates whether the presence of strategies on sustainability in Spanish universities could be associated with coercive and mimetic pressures. Findings indicate the low presence of strategies on sustainability in Spanish universities. Moreover, the results seem to suggest that the presence of strategies on sustainability in Spanish universities could be linked with coercive and mimetic pressures emanating from the State performance funding for universities. The results indicate that universities usually incorporate practices and strategies on sustainability as a response of the pressure exerted by institutional forces, such as the funding systems of higher education institutions.     

Implementing comprehensive plans: indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation process

Evaluation in spatial planning aims to raise effectiveness of plans as well as efficiency in planning processes. Given that research regarding evaluation of performance and especially plan implementation is sparse, this study presents a minimal set of indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach for Swiss cantonal comprehensive plans. Thematic task-sheets are a promising characteristic of cantonal comprehensive plans. They translate the comprehensive planning strategy into concrete evaluable tasks. The presented indicators allow assessing procedural efficiency of coordination and implementation of planning tasks (performance). We argue that if task-sheets comply with certain plan quality characteristics, a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach can support the effectiveness of plans and promote the objectives of the planning strategy. We point out plan content and characteristics necessary for effective execution of our approach. As a result, our findings can serve as a framework for designing evaluation processes for comprehensive planning documents beyond Switzerland.     

European environmental assistance to the region of Pskov in northwest Russia: sustainability,effectiveness and implications for environmental governance

The paper explores the impact and sustainability of environmental assistance coming to Russia from EU-based public and private foundations, and its implications for environmental governance. Geographically, the study ’encompassed all the assistance projects awarded in 1991–2016 involving beneficiaries from Pskovskaya Oblast’. This region is potentially an important target for EU investments in environmental infrastructure, due to its location by the EU border and high value of natural capital. The study demonstrates how the assumptions offered by the international aid literature (mostly derived from the global South) apply to Russia. We found major limitations to the assumption that co-financing provided by recipients ensures project effectiveness (demonstrating the acceptance of the donor's agenda) or sustainability (providing interest to the maintenance of outputs). Tangible assets are normally co-financed only if the investment was in agenda anyway (and therefore the donor gets only time gains, although this can be a valid purpose too); soft outputs (plans, surveys, policies, etc.) are usually co-financed in-kind, and therefore cannot secure any additional commitment. Likewise, physical infrastructure often ends up mismanaged due to low or no maintenance budgets available, while maintenance of soft outputs is too much dependent on contextual factors beyond the co-finance paradigm.