Land, limits and sustainability: a conceptual framework and some dilemmas for the planning system
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework is provided by'stock maintenance' models of sustainability and a distinction is made between material, post-material and non-instrumental dimensions of sustainability which relate in complex ways to the use and development of land.
Abstract: This paper explores the opportunities and contradictions in applying concepts of sustainable development to land use policy. The conceptual framework is provided by 'stock maintenance' models of sustainability and a distinction is made between material, postmaterial and non-instrumental dimensions of sustainability which relate in complex ways to the use and development of land. Though concepts of sustainability are gaining ground in planning and related disciplines, translating theory into policy remains problematic. Principles of sustainability challenge the presumption in favour of development and sit uneasily with the utilitarian notion of 'balance'. They require an alternative ethical basis and, especially in the postmaterial realm, are inherently bound up with value theory. These issues are illustrated by the problem of defining 'critical natural capital'. Political commitments to sustainability were made, and to some extent encoded in planning policies, before the challenge to a demand-led economy was fully grasped. Far from effecting reconciliation, defining what is sustainable will expose conflict more starkly and at an earlier stage in the planning process. As environment-led plans and decisions are challenged by development interests, there will be opportunities to test these conclusions in specific empirical contexts.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a multilevel governance perspective to examine the discursive and material struggles which take place in creating sustainable cities and find that the interpretation and implementation of sustainability are shaped by forms of governance which stretch across geographical scales and beyond the boundary of the urban.
Abstract: While sustainable cities have been promoted as a desirable goal within a variety of policy contexts, critical questions concerning the extent to which cities and local governments can address the challenges of sustainability remain unanswered. We use a multilevel governance perspective to examine the discursive and material struggles which take place in creating sustainable cities. In exploring the politics of implementing climate protection through development planning in Newcastle upon Tyne and transport planning in Cambridgeshire, we find that the interpretation and implementation of sustainability are shaped by forms of governance which stretch across geographical scales and beyond the boundary of the urban. We argue that the 'urban' governance of climate protection involves relations between levels of the state and new network spheres of authority which challenge traditional distinctions between local, national and global environmental politics.
1,031 citations
Cites background from "Land, limits and sustainability: a ..."
...Since the early 1990s, successive revisions to planning policy guidance have emphasised the role of the land use planning system and reducing the need to travel in delivering sustainable development (Healy & Shaw, 1994; Owens, 1994; Bruff & Wood, 2000; Owens & Cowell, 2002)....
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TL;DR: The authors examines the conceptual history of sustainable development, from the Brundtland Commission's definition in 1987 to the present day, and argues that the superficial consensus that has characterized much of the early debate has given way to a series of parallel but distinct discourses around sustainability.
Abstract: The paper examines the conceptual history of ‘sustainable development’, from the Brundtland Commission's definition in 1987 to the present day. It argues that the superficial consensus that has characterized much of the early debate has given way to a series of parallel but distinct discourses around sustainability. The underlying assumptions behind much of the discussion are assessed, as is the move, after the first Earth Summit (1992), to focus on rights, rather than needs, as the principal line of enquiry. This analytical attention to rights is linked to the neo-liberal economic agendas of the 1990s, and the growth of interest in congruent areas, including human security and the environment, social capital, critical natural capital and intellectual property rights. The paper argues that increasing attention to questions of biology and science studies has strengthened this ‘rights-based’ approach, as well as interest in the linkages between ‘natural’ and ‘human’ systems, including attention to questions of environmental justice. It is clear that issues of global environmental justice are as important as they were when the concept of ‘sustainable development’ was in its infancy, but the new material realities of science and the environment in the 21st century demand a re-engagement with their social consequences, something which is largely ignored by the (market) liberal consensus. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
644 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the potential of the new ideas about public argumentation and communicative policy practice developing in the field of planning theory for addressing the task of strategic spatial strategy-making.
Abstract: There is an increasing contemporary interest, particularly in Europe, in the spatial organization of urban regions and in spatial strategy. But there is a general loss of confidence in political systems as mechanisms for conflict mediation and the strategic management of collective affairs. This raises questions about how stakeholders in spatial change in urban regions get to understand the complex dynamics of urban regions, how they get to agree on strategies and actions, and how this may be translated into influence on events. In this paper I explore the potential of the new ideas about public argumentation and communicative policy practice developing in the field of planning theory for addressing the task of strategic spatial strategy-making. I first outline the ideas, and then develop them into an approach focused around questions about the forums and arenas where spatial strategy-making takes place, and who gets access to them; the style of discussion, the way issues are identified and filtered; how ...
620 citations
Cites background from "Land, limits and sustainability: a ..."
...…of sustainability as an inheritance to pass on to the future gradually consolidating into two competing conceptions, one focusing on the maintenance of an environmental asset stock, the other on containing development within biospheric carrying capacities (Healey and Shaw, 1994; Owens, 1994)....
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01 Jun 2006
TL;DR: This paper argued that sustainable development had for some time been a property of different discourses, and that today sustainable development needs to be linked to new material realities, the product of our science and technology.
Abstract: The essay began by arguing that ‘sustainable development’ had for some time been a property of different discourses. The term ‘sustainable development’ was an oxymoron, which prompted a number of discursive interpretations of the weight to attached to both ‘development’ and ‘sustainability’. Only by exposing the assumptions, and conclusions, of these discourses could we hope to clarify the choices, and trade-offs, which beset environmental policy, and the environmental social sciences. Today ‘sustainable development’ needs to be linked to new material realities, the product of our science and technology, and
487 citations
Cites background from "Land, limits and sustainability: a ..."
...A search had begun for practical ways in which sustainability could be built in to existing policies and planning ([Jacobs, 1991; Rydin, 1996; Roberts, 1995; Owens, 1994)....
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...Rozpoczęto także poszukiwanie praktycznych sposobów włączenia idei zrównoważenia do istniejącej polityki i planowania ([Jacobs, 1991; Rydin, 1996; Roberts, 1995; Owens, 1994)....
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TL;DR: This paper present a comparative analysis of how representatives from the public, private, and voluntary sectors of two cities [Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands)] responded to the challenge of communicating more effectively with citizens about issues of sustainability.
Abstract: This paper presents a comparative analysis of how representatives from the public, private, and voluntary sectors of two cities [Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands)] responded to the challenge of communicating more effectively with citizens about issues of sustainability. The analysis is set in the context of literature about the need to widen participation in the determination of Local Agenda 21 policies, and the drive for more inclusionary forms of communication in planning and politics. Workshop members discussed the results of surveys and in-depth discussion groups with local residents which had revealed considerable scepticism and mistrust of environmental communications and environmental expertise. Three themes are explored. First, there is consensus in attributing responsibility for public alienation and resistance to environmental communications to the content and styles of media reporting. Second, there are contrasting discursive constructions of the ‘public’, which reflec...
487 citations
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Posted Content•
1,448 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that shifting the normative principles applied to policy use of science is not merely an external shift in relation to the same body of natural knowledge, but also involves the possible reshaping of the natural knowledge itself.
Abstract: for current assumptions about scientific knowledge and environmental policy raised by the preventive approach and the associated Precautionary Principle. He offers a critical examination of approaches to characterizing different kinds of uncertainty in policy knowledge, especially in relation to decision making upstream from environmental effects. Via the key dimension of unrecognized indeterminacy in scientific knowledge, the author argues that shifting the normative principles applied to policy use of science is not merely an external shift in relation to the same body of ‘natural’ knowledge, but also involves the possible reshaping of the ‘natural’ knowledge itself.
1,013 citations
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01 Jan 1998TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the conventional GDP and product accounts, as currently laid out, give a misleading picture of the value of a nation's economic activity to the people concerned.
Abstract: It will be useful if I tell you in advance where the
argument is leading. It is a commonplace thought
that the national income and product accounts, as
currently laid out, give a misleading picture of the
value of a nation’s economic activity to the people
concerned. The conventional totals, gross domestic
product (GDP) or gross national product (GNP) or
national income, are not so bad for studying fluctuations in employment or analyzing the demand for
goods and services. When it comes to measuring
the economy’s contribution to the well-being of the
country’s inhabitants, however, the conventional
measures are incomplete. The most obvious omission is the depreciation of fixed capital assets. If two
economies produce the same real GDP but one of
them does so wastefully by wearing out half of its
stock of plant and equipment while the other does
so thriftily and holds depreciation to 10 percent of
its stock of capital, it is pretty obvious which one is
doing a better job for its citizens. Of course the national income accounts have always recognized this
point, and they construct net aggregates, like net
national product (NNP), to give an appropriate
answer. Depreciation of fixed capital may be badly
measured, and the error affects net product, but the
effort is made.
672 citations