Philip Berke

Are we planning for sustainable development? An evaluation of 30 comprehensive plans

Abstract This article sets forth a set of six principles that define and operationalize the concept of sustainable development. Using these six principles, a sample of 30 comprehensive plans was evaluated to determine how well their policies support sustainable development. Findings indicate no significant differences in how extensively sustain-ability principles are supported between the plans that state an intention to integrate sustainable development and those that do not. In addition, these plans do not provide balanced support of all six sustainability principles, as they support some principles significantly more than others.

Recovery after disaster: achieving sustainable development, mitigation and equity.

This paper reviews key findings and raises issues that are not fully addressed by the predominant disaster recovery literature. Achievement of equity, mitigation and sustainable development, particularly through local participation in redevelopment planning and institutional cooperation, is the central issue of the review. Previous research and past assumptions about the process by which communities rebuild after a disaster are reviewed. A conceptual model for understanding local disaster recovery efforts is then presented. The conceptual and practical significance of this model is then demonstrated by presenting case studies of local recovery experiences. Finally, conclusions on the current understanding of disaster redevelopment planning, as well as implications for public policy and future research are offered.

Does Sustainable Development Offer a New Direction for Planning? Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

The practice and scholarship of planning has shifted from physical design to process. Process emphasizes diversity, openness, and consensus but is not fully equipped to offer a shared vision in political arenas dominated by fragmentation and conflict. Newurbanism has revived the idea that planning is about physical design, but this concept does not fully embrace a holistic vision of community building. This article explains howsustainable development extends the positive attributes of the first two approaches and offers a multigenerational vision of community building. This vision integrates multiple societal values and enhances local imagination, understanding, and commitment to defining solutions for the common good.

The Influence of State Planning Mandates on Local Plan Quality

After abating somewhat in the early 1980s, state involvement in local planning has regained momentum. States are increasingly adopting new or strengthening existing growth management programs that mandate local governments to prepare and adopt comprehensive plans. This study examines the influence of state mandates on the content and quality of comprehensive plans from 139 local governments in five states. Three components of the plans are analyzed: fact basis, goals, and policies. This study indicates that state mandates have a clearly measurable effect in enhancing plan quality. The findings also suggest that the design of the mandate itself can be important in determining local plan quality.

Planning for Postdisaster Resiliency

The focus of this article is planning for resiliency in the aftermath of a catastrophe. First, the authors offer their conception of planning for resiliency as a goal for recovering communities, and the benefits of planning in efforts to create more resilient places. Next, they discuss major issues associated with planning for postdisaster recovery, including barriers posed by federal and state governments to planning for resiliency, the promise and risks of compact urban form models for guiding rebuilding, and the failure to involve citizens in planning for disasters. Finally, they discuss lessons from prior research that address these issues and policy recommendations that foster predisaster recovery planning for resilient communities.

What makes a good sustainable development plan? An analysis of factors that influence principles of sustainable development

A key question faced by practitioners trying to plan for sustainable development is: what can be done in planning practice to influence promotion of sustainable development? This research addresses that question by investigating three dimensions of the planning process (political support for the concept, participation, and resource commitment), the organization of local land-use plans, and state planning mandates to determine how they influence the support plan policies have for principles of sustainable development. We use plan content analysis as well as survey data for forty-two communities across the United States to analyze factors which influence such support. Our findings highlight that the presence of a state planning mandate, most applicable to US planning, as well as having a variety of groups participating in the planning process, are key factors that increase overall plan support for the sustainable development principles. Recommendations for planning practice are offered based on our findings.

Searching for the Good Plan A Meta-Analysis of Plan Quality Studies

Despite the centrality of comprehensive plans to the profession of city and regional planning, there is a gap in knowledge about the quality of plans as they are not routinely evaluated against best practice standards. We discuss plan quality evaluation, an emerging methodology for assessing the quality of plans. We review the evolution of the concept, the dimensions covered, and the principles and criteria used. We then provide a comparative meta-analytic analysis of the findings from published plan quality evaluations, ranging from research studies in the United States to national planning policy applications in Holland and New Zealand, and offer recommendations about future directions in improving content analysis of plan documents and research design in plan quality evaluation.

What Makes Plan Implementation Successful? An Evaluation of Local Plans and Implementation Practices in New Zealand

Failure to implement plans has long been considered a significant barrier to effective planning. We examine two conceptions of success in plan implementation (conformance and performance), the effects of the implementation practices of planning agencies, and the capacity of agencies and permit applicants to bring about success. A key lesson from our New-Zealand-based evaluation is that implementation is somewhat weak. Another key point is that, if implementation is defined and measured in terms of conformance, plans and planners have an important influence on implementation success. Alternatively, if implementation is defined and measured in terms of performance, plans and planners are less influential in implementation. These lessons have broad implications for the theory and practice of plan implementation.

Evaluating Plan Implementation: A Conformance-Based Methodology

Abstract The planning profession lacks a robust methodology to evaluate the implementation of plans. This article proposes a conformance-based plan implementation evaluation (PIE) that relies on the analysis of plans and permits to provide a rigorous, quantitative, and systematic way of assessing the degree to which land use plans are implemented. We studied the implementation of stormwater and urban amenity management in six New Zealand plans by reviewing their land development permits. We found that the implementation of land use plans was generally low and varied greatly among plans and issues. Although it was tested in the context of local plans in New Zealand, the methodology can be used by city and county planning agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Greening Development to Protect Watersheds: Does New Urbanism Make a Difference?

Abstract New urbanism has been touted as a more environmentally sustainable form of development than conventional low-density sprawl. To test this assertion, this study comparatively evaluates how well 50 matched pairs of new urban and conventional developments in the United States integrate watershed protection techniques. Findings indicate that new urban development practices offer a greener and more compact alternative to sprawl in greenfields on the suburban fringe, as they are more likely to protect and restore sensitive areas, reduce impervious cover, and incorporate best management practices. New urban developments in infill sites are more likely to incorporate impervious surface reduction techniques and restore degraded stream environments, but have equivalent levels of sensitive area protection and use of best management practices. Recommendations offer ways in which watershed protection techniques can be used to implement more environmentally sustainable development.