Regional Planning Tensions: Planning for Economic Growth and Sustainable Development in Two Contrasting English Regions

Counsell, David; Haughton, Graham

doi:10.1068/c0221

Cited by 39 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For example, Bracke and Albrecht (2007) and Perkins and Neumeyer (2004) have sought to document and explore the uneven spread of`new' environmental policy instruments such as environmental management standards. Another stream has sought to investigate the extent to which the trend towards more multilevelled governance has made it easier and/or harder for society as a whole to develop more sustainably (Counsell and Haughton, 2003;Gibbs and Jonas, 2001;Jordan, 1999;To« mmel, 1997).…”

Section: Empirical Descriptions and Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Governance of Sustainable Development: Taking Stock and Looking Forwards

Jordan

2008

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

352

256

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The number of books and papers bearing the terms`sustainable development' and`governance' in their titles has grown exponentially in the last decade or so. The main purpose of this paper is to explore what meanings have been attached to these two essentially contested terms and to assess the extent to which the material on them constitutes an important, coherent, and cumulative body of scholarship. The first half explores the existing literatures on the two terms, and draws out some of the main similarities and differences. Drawing on papers that have been published in this journal over the last decade or so, the second half focuses on the attempts that have been made to build empirical and/or theoretical bridges between the two terms. The concluding section identifies a number of key themes and explores future research needs in what is evidently a vibrant and highly policy-relevant area of environmental social science research.

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Section: Empirical Descriptions and Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Governance of Sustainable Development: Taking Stock and Looking Forwards

Jordan

2008

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

352

256

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“…Additionally, it should be noted that the rural housing framework in place considers only demographic changes in rural areas (population increase or depopulation) and fails to appreciate other wider rural development initiatives (for example, rural housing is excluded from rural economic development perspectives in the NDP). This is a significant omission because, as Counsell and Haughton (2003) argue, the inter-relationships between regional planning and regional economic development are crucial in understanding and overcoming of the challenges facing the new regional scale of governance, supported in the ESDP and spatial planning practices.…”

Section: Policy Inconsistenciesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Planning for Rural Housing in the Republic of Ireland: From National Spatial Strategies to Development Plans

Gkartzios

Scott

2009

European Planning Studies

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This paper examines the role of spatial planning as a policy framework for managing rural housing within an integrated territorial development strategy. The paper focuses on the Republic of Ireland, which provides a useful case for analysing spatial planning and rural housing relationships, due to the State's recent shift towards spatial planning (formalized with the publication of the Irish National Spatial Strategy), as well as the level of housing construction that has been observed in an increasingly post-productivist countryside (triggered by counterurbanization flows, increased affluence and demands for second holiday homes, etc.). The paper reviews all policy instruments that have been used to manage rural housing at various scales (from national strategies to local level development plans). It is argued that while spatial planning adopts an integrative vocabulary, as policy moves down the spatial scale hierarchy, multi-dimensional spatial goals are implemented through traditional, narrow land-use regulation. This often leads to rural housing being addressed in isolation from its wider social and economic context, disconnecting housing from wider rural community issues and ultimately failing to deliver a coordinated and coherent spatial policy for managing rural settlements.

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“…Their relative relationship, however, is debated (see Figure 1): the commonly known diagram of three interlocking rings puts sustainability at the intersection of all three, implying that each pillar has, in some sense, an independent existence. Viewing the dimensions independently allows actors to separate humans from environment and prioritise one part over the whole (Counsell and Haughton, 2003;Giddings et al, 2002). Such a view has been associated with a reliance on technological fixes to address sustainability concerns, as the environment is posited as separate from human society.…”

Section: Three Pillar Models Of Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since Brundtland published her committee's report, it has become (almost) common parlance that sustainability has something to do with social equity and economic development, in addition to environmental protection. It is broadly accepted in the literature that the three 'dimensions' of economy, society and environment need to be present (Rydin et al, 2003;Mazza and Rydin, 1997;Haughton and Hunter, 1994;Moffatt, 1995;Reid, 1995;Counsell and Haughton, 2003). Their relative relationship, however, is debated (see Figure 1): the commonly known diagram of three interlocking rings puts sustainability at the intersection of all three, implying that each pillar has, in some sense, an independent existence.…”

Section: Three Pillar Models Of Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualising Sustainability in UK Urban Regeneration: a Discursive Formation

et al. 2010

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Despite the wide usage and popular appeal of the concept of sustainability in UK policy, it does not appear to have challenged the status quo in urban regeneration because policy is not leading in its conceptualisation and therefore implementation. This paper investigates how sustainability has been conceptualised in a case-based research study of the regeneration of Eastside in Birmingham, UK, through policy and other documents, and finds that conceptualisations of sustainability are fundamentally limited. The conceptualisation of sustainability operating within urban regeneration schemes should powerfully shape how they make manifest (or do not) the principles of sustainable development. Documents guide, but people implement regenerationand the disparate conceptualisations of stakeholders demonstrate even less coherence than policy. The actions towards achieving sustainability have become a policy 'fix' in Eastside: a necessary feature of urban policy discourse that is limited to solutions within market-based constraints. IntroductionUrban regeneration has a substantial impact on all three dimensions, sometimes known as pillars, of sustainability: society, economics and environment; it is therefore an activity of considerable importance to achieving a more sustainable society. The UK government has integrated the goal of sustainability into urban regeneration policies, yet the proliferation of definitions and conceptualisations of sustainability render the term so poorly understood and slippery that it can be easily pressed into the service of almost any ends. It can, as a result, rather neatly service the 'growth-first' and 'develop-at-almost-any-cost' philosophies that remain dominant in the UK. We contend that despite a raft of government policies, practice-based studies, models and demonstrators of best practice, checklists and indicators, sustainability has yet to make a serious influence on the approach to the redevelopment of land. More importantly, as we investigate closely in this paper, the conceptualisation or 'rationality' of sustainability operating within specific urban regeneration schemes powerfully shapes how those schemes make manifest (or do not make manifest) the principles of sustainable development. To move towards more sustainable developments, one must overcome the challenge of developing an integrated and nuanced understanding of sustainability to translate the concept into implementation.

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Regional Planning Tensions: Planning for Economic Growth and Sustainable Development in Two Contrasting English Regions

Cited by 39 publications

References 15 publications

The Governance of Sustainable Development: Taking Stock and Looking Forwards

The Governance of Sustainable Development: Taking Stock and Looking Forwards

Planning for Rural Housing in the Republic of Ireland: From National Spatial Strategies to Development Plans

Conceptualising Sustainability in UK Urban Regeneration: a Discursive Formation

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