Leonard Ortolano

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

(1995). ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. Impact Assessment: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 3-30.

Strategic environmental assessment for sustainable urban development

Abstract Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) evaluates the environmental impacts of policies, plans, and programs. This article examines the use of SEA for sustainable urban development. We first explore opportunities for SEA to promote sustainability principles. Then, we analyze case studies that have applied SEA to comprehensive planning. Our results indicate that SEA can effectively weave sustainability principles into the fabric of urban plans. Finally, we highlight both SEAs potential and its challenges for sustainable urban development.

A PLANNER'S INTRODUCTION TO EXPERT SYSTEMS

Abstract Expert systems are computer programs that apply artificial intelligence programming techniques to problems that involve narrow, clearly defined subject areas. They differ from conventional programs in that facts and rules are separate from a programs underlying control structure and a programs reasoning can be explained easily to the user. Although operational systems to aid planners have not yet been completed, prototype systems have been built in areas such as site planning and park management. The potential value of expert systems to planners is great, and thus planners should follow developments in this rapidly changing field.

A Tale of Two Sitings: Contentious Politics in Liquefied Natural Gas Facility Siting in California

The siting of large industrial facilities represents a difficult planning problem. Despite decades of experience and research on siting, many of the same patterns of conflict persist. We focus on four factors drawn largely from the study of social movements—threat, political opportunity, resources and appropriation, and loss of trust—to explain the mobilization efforts of project opponents in two cases of attempts to site liquefied natural gas terminals in California. Findings from these cases indicate that either a significant endowment of resources or a combination of threat and political opportunity is important for mobilization.

Community Participation in Urban Sanitation Experiences in Northeastern Brazil

This article explores how well community participation explains variations in the performance of sanitation projects in Brazilian cities. Case studies of condominial sewers in Recife and Natal, Brazil, reveal a variety of activities that we categorize into four forms of participation: mobilizing, decision making, construction, and maintenance. Mobilizing and decision making were associated with performance in the cases we examined. Our results suggest that participation form as well as community influence are important. The hypothesis that increased participation enhances performance is an oversimplification for condominial sewers.

A Behavioral Model of “Muddling Through” in the Chinese Bureaucracy: The Case of Environmental Protection

How do we characterize and explain the behavioral patterns of the Chinese bureaucracy amid China’s great transformation over the past three decades? The prevailing “tournament competition” model presented in the literature emphasizes the role of incentive design to explain bureaucratic behaviors. We develop an alternative model of “muddling through”—characterized by a reactive response to multiple pressures, constant readjustments and a focus on short-term gains—to explain the behavioral patterns of China’s intermediate government agencies. We explain the underlying multiple bureaucratic logics that induce these behavioral patterns and the institutional conditions under which such behavioral patterns prevail. We illustrate the research issues, analytical concepts and theoretical arguments, using a case study of a municipal environmental protection bureau implementing the Five-Year Plan, between 2006 and 2010.

The Chinese Government's Role in Implementing Multilateral Environmental Agreements: The Case of the Montreal Protocol

The Multilateral Fund created by amendments to the Montreal Protocol played a key role in motivating the Chinese government to ratify and comply with the Protocol. Two other factors have affected Chinas actions in meeting the Protocols requirements: the nations desire to appear as a responsible and co-operative actor in solving global environmental problems, and the interest of Chinas principal implementing agency in expanding its responsibilities and authorities. Three factors have had significant roles in enhancing the national governments ability to implement the Protocol: expanded administrative capacity, participation of local government units with capability to enforce regulations, and the employment of market-based environmental policy instruments.

Benefits and Costs of Shanghai's Environmental Citizen Complaints System

The Shanghai Municipal Governments environmental complaints system allows citizens to report environmental problems to local authorities and provides timely feedback regarding how the complaint was resolved. Using both statistical data and case studies, we conduct a qualitative analysis of the systems costs and benefits as of early 2002. The analysis shows that the complaints system is an important, yet somewhat unreliable source of information about the many environmental problems not otherwise detected by regulators. Moreover, the opportunity cost of the system is significant; the system is dominated by nuisance complaints that are either trivial or without significance to environmental quality except at a very limited geographical scale. Analysis of patterns in the case studies provides the basis for constructing hypotheses concerning whether a particular pollution problem is likely to be the subject of a complaint. This offers insights into how the system could be improved so that the benefits of citizen involvement could be enhanced.

Pollution prevention incentives and responses in chinese firms

Abstract Pollution prevention (P2), which the Chinese define to include process changes, energy and water conservation, as well as materials reuse and recycling, stands in sharp contrast to the traditional approach to pollution control: generate waste and then treat it. Based on our study of 26 electroplating enterprises in four Chinese cities, we divided factors motivating firms to adopt P2 measures into three groups: economic incentives, environmental policy incentives, and individual and social incentives. We then used four variables to categorize an electroplating factorys use of P2 as a response to these incentives: awareness of the P2 concept, leadership commitment to P2, presence of a P2 champion in the factory, and goals for P2. Firms we viewed as having a “proactive” environmental management strategy scored highest on all four variables and adopted the largest number of P2 measures. At the other extreme, firms using “resistive” strategies scored poorly on all four variables and never adopted P2 measures intentionally. Other firms (i.e., those with low scores on some but not all of the four variables) used “reactive” strategies: they deliberately adopted P2 measures, but usually in the narrow context of a particular workshop or environmental medium (e.g., air or water). Only proactive firms viewed pollution prevention as a factorywide management strategy for enhancing profits while abating pollution. Our analysis suggests actions that might increase the number of firms using proactive environmental management strategies.

Learning Processes in Development Planning a Theoretical Overview and Case Study

Planners work with various kinds of organizations, sometimes to provide technical expertise and other times to facilitate communication between different organizations and interest groups. Planners are also important players in “organizational learning.” In this article, the authors describe how organizational practices change through learning. Drawing from the sociological literature on organizational behavior, the authors develop a conceptual model of organizational learning. This model is then applied to the case of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) engaged in development planning in western India. We show not only how learning processes have led to behavioral change in this NGO but also ways in which learning has been constrained.