Collaborative Planning for Sustainable Development

Abstract

The future of sustainable development is contingent on how goals and values are reflected in the wider aims of comprehensive spatial plans. Despite the encouragement of sustainable futures, economic growth and development are still pursued and stimulated in urban areas. This growth often presents itself in the form of sprawling landscapes, which generate a host of negative externalities. With increased public interest in spatial planning and land use policy new attention is placed on the importance of achieving consensus between stakeholder groups. Collaborative planning is perceived as an important tool in the development of a collective vision for ecological and social sustainability outcomes. The Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan in Auckland, New Zealand is attempting to position these wider values into a comprehensive planning document for future development in the region. Development goals, however, are fragmented and conflicting discursive structures result. Collaborative planning attempts to mobilise stakeholder values around collective goals so that conflict can be mediated to generate a comprehensive vision for the region. To understand the opportunities of collaborative planning, this thesis investigates the policy and development goals reflected in the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan and how these are conceptualised, constructed and mobilised in the plan-making process. An interpretive methodology was employed where methods involved interviews, policy and discourse analysis. This allowed for an understanding to be developed on how the wider goals of the community were mobilised against policy visions as well as the conceptualisation of discourse in the spatial planning document. Findings show that collaborative planning has the potential to generate a regional understanding of the sustainability goals of the Plan. This research has the potential to better inform policy makers on how best to perceive and mitigate contest over proposed plans and brings attention to the capacity of collaborative planning in changing perspectives for sustainable futures.