Plan-making for Sustainability The New Zealand Experience Urban Planning and Environment Series

Around the introduction of Agenda 21 at Rio in 1991, some countries like the Netherlands and New Zealand were already leading the way with quite innovative approaches to environmental planning. Focusing on the New Zealand government's innovations in sustainable and environmental planning, particularly the Resource Management Act of 1991, this book highlights planning and governance under devolved and co-operative mandates. It uses multiple methods to evaluate the quality of policy statements and district plans prepared by regional and local councils respectively, as well as the various inter- and intra-organizational and institutional factors affecting them. It also analyses the quality of the plans' implementation through the consensus or permits process, and the quality of the environmental outcomes.

Contents: Introduction: from Rio to RMA: great expectations. Part I: Approaches to Planning and Governance: Planning mandates: from theory to practice; Making plans: from theory to practice. Part II: Intergovernmental Planning in New Zealand: Central government: walking the talk; Regional government: a non-partner; Mãori interests: elusive partnership. Part III: Plan Quality and Capability Under the RMA: Regional councils: lightweight policy statements and limited capability; District councils: mixed results in planning and capability; Influencing factors: linking mandates, councils, capability and quality. Part IV: Local Case Studies: Far North District: resisting innovation; Queenstown Lakes District: development meets environment; Tauranga District: policy coherence on the coast; Tasman District: political populism; Conclusion: a decade on: unfulfilled expectations. Appendices: Key provisions of the RMA affecting local government functions; Methodology; Plan coding protocol; References cited; Index.

Neil J. Ericksen is a Professor at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Philip R. Berke is a Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, USA. Dr Janet L. Crawford works for Planning Consultants Ltd (Auckland), New Zealand, and Jennifer E. Dixon is a Professor in the Department of Planning, University of Auckland, New Zealand.