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In addition to crossing state lines, networks of natural gas transmission pipelines in the US cross multiple local jurisdictions, each potentially with its own local comprehensive plans and zoning ...

Social–ecological resilience (SER) and sustainable commons management (SCM) are process- and outcome-based paradigms for natural resource management. Resource management plans foster them, but traditional plan quality assessment typically omits process dimensions. We examined what constitutes an appropriate plan quality evaluation framework for resource management plans that reflect these SER and SCM paradigms. In order to create a plan quality instrument for assessing embedded SER and SCM processes, we employed a two-part methodology of a meta-ethnographic analysis and then used the results to augment current advances in plan quality evaluation to assess adaptation efforts. While methodologically novel in the academic planning canon, the meta-ethnographic approach has been used to inductively synthesize qualitative studies’ results in, for example, the fields of public health, medicine, and education. Our use advances plan quality evaluation with a new metric that combines the paradigmatic resource management strategies and addresses identified shortcomings in the more novel adaptive plan quality evaluation approach that builds on the former, traditional one.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 requires states to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for surface waters not expected to comply with water quality standards after controls have been put in place to address point sources of pollution, typically from business and industry. These TMDLs have gained attention as nonpoint sources of water pollution are increasingly recognized as intractable challenge by localities and their states (Hoornbeek et al., 2013). Planning at a watershed geographic scale has been promoted by the U.S. EPA to address both the scientific and community based challenges faced in addressing TMDL levels. Studies have focused on the breadth of watershed groups participation, on watershed group membership typologies, on watershed plan development, as well as on implementation of plan recommendations (see, e.g., Hardy and Koontz, 2008 ; Koontz and Johnson, 2004; Hoornbeek et al., 2013). However, the role these planning efforts play within community based comprehensive planning, as well as the inclusion of planners in the watershed planning efforts, remains unclear. This paper uses the state of Ohio as a case study to explore the role of planning and planners with respect to nonpoint source water quality mitigation, specifically related to the Section 319 grant related funding, through watershed planning efforts. Section 319 directed watershed planning are focused on TMDL guidelines to combat nonpoint source pollution levels. Addressing water quality at the watershed planning level in Ohio is a multidimensional and complex process involving multiple stakeholders at every level of government, public and private planning entities, as well as educational institutions and the nonprofit sector. There have been at least eight watershed related planning processes in the state since the start of this century, including Section 319 and the Balanced Growth Program which also requires a watershed based plan. This paper examines interview data with state level watershed entities and survey data from Ohio planners. These sources provide insight into state watershed action plan processes and the involvement of planners in water quality protection in general and watershed level planning activities in particular. The paper begins with a discussion of the complex watershed planning setting in Ohio. It moves into the results of the survey and interviews to understand the role of planners in this environment. The paper concludes with an assessment of the potential policy implications of the results and directions for future research. The results of this paper are important to ongoing efforts to improve and protect surface water quality in the U.S.

This study examines how well Georgia's exurbs in the US promote sustainable development. We assessed 22 exurban plans in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area using an established content analysis method and compared sustainability scores of the exurban plans with those of other city and township plans. The key finding is that Georgia's state-based comprehensive planning programme enhances the sustainability scores of exurban plans by providing a guideline for local comprehensive planning efforts. However, exurban plans do not provide balanced support of sustainability principles but rather they focus on creating livable built environments.

This study connects resilience and sustainability through comprehensive planning. We argue that communities with a comprehensive plan which promotes sustainable development exhibit resilience. We analyze 46 township plans in Central Ohio, in the Midwestern Region of the United States, to examine plan sustainability. The findings show that the township plans do not provide balanced support of sustainability principles and so are not adequately prepared to withstand and adapt to exogenous shocks.

Participation is a hallmark of the planning process but it can be a challenge to engage a broad constituency when a topic is complex and lacks a sense of urgency. This is often the case with watershed-related planning efforts. This paper conducts a post-mortem of an unsuccessful watershed planning participation effort in two counties in Ohio. The participant pool was surveyed regarding how venues, processes, and meeting topics influence their decision to participate. The survey also explored general participation habits as compared with the watershed planning participation experiences. Key factors that respondents felt influenced their participation are personal knowledge of the meeting topic, immediacy of the topic, perceived influence in the process, and meeting time convenience. Further responses highlight the importance of local relationships in a collaborative process.

Insights regarding planning for sustainable development have largely focused on cases that highlight communities making dramatic changes to promote the concept. Noticeably absent from the literature, however, has been an examination of what characteristics contribute to the adoption of sustainability-related activities by less celebrated communities. This study attempts to address that deficiency through a survey of planning directors across municipalities and counties in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. The survey, in conjunction with census data and a calculated sustainable activities index (SAI), serves as the foundation for comparative and regression analyses. Findings of the study indicate that the significant contributors to the SAI scores include community population size, familiarity with the concept of sustainability, discussion of the concept by planning staff, and having activities with sustainability as a goal. We offer recommendations based on our findings.

Local Agenda 21 activities stemming from the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, and the more recent Local Action 21 mandate from the 2002 Johannesburg Conference, have kept planning...

Sustainable development came onto the American planning scene with a flourish in the 1990s. It was hailed as the new planning paradigm, and cases began appearing in the literature that highlighted communities making progress toward sustainability. Noticeably absent from the literature, however, has been an examination of whether the concept is resonating across the rest of the country, and if so, how. This study attempts to address that deficiency through a survey of planning directors across municipalities and counties in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Findings of the study indicate that a general familiarity with the concept of sustainable development exists but that it has not been accepted as a new or different standard for planning practice.

E-government tools provide municipal planning departments with an alternative means to inform and engage their citizenry. We examine the use of information and communication technology e-government tools to promote citizen participation in the planning process. The analysis is based on an examination of municipal planning-related websites for the 590 US cities with a 2000 Census population of 50 000 or more. We also explore the influence which demographic contextual factors have on what tools are provided. Principal findings highlight the dominance of simple, information-based, e-government tools. The analyses also suggest that population-related and geographic-related variables are significant and pervasive influences on the provision of these tools.

Municipal planning departments often struggle to provide citizen participation opportunities that are informative and engaging. E-government tools hold the potential to enhance traditional forms of citizen participation. This paper examines the use of information and communication technology e-government tools to promote citizen participation in the planning process. The analysis is based on an examination of planning department Web sites for the 582 U.S. cities with a 2000 census population of 50,000 or more. Principal findings are that while most of the reviewed Web sites provide only basic planning information, there are a growing number of sites offering enhanced information as well as interaction tools.

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.

Attention in US literature and practice addressing sustainable development has focused on a limited number of communities such as Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. These communities have been identified as making difficult decisions and ground‐breaking policies to advance sustainability initiatives. However, these communities are considered by some to be atypical and their experiences do not relate to the typical US city. The US landscape is dominated by more “average” places. Explores the use of a graduate level planning class to help bring sustainability concepts to a more typical US city, Columbus, Ohio. Examines impediments and opportunities that were encountered in the process, and identifies three key factors that have characterized the Columbus experience: timing, leadership, and a non‐continuously successful process.

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.

Citizen involvement in environmental policy setting is important for insuring policy viability. However, traditional public meetings are criticized for being an ineffective means of conveying information, especially for complex policy issues such as watershed management. An interactive technology-based approach to public meetings provides a promising alternative. This pilot study compares knowledge, commitment and satisfaction levels of two groups of participants at a watershed meeting: one group attended a traditional meeting format and the other attended a technology-based format. Group survey results show technology-based participants report a higher level of meeting satisfaction and a stronger influence of the meeting on watershed attitudes. Comparisons of knowledge and commitment levels may require a multiple meeting format to highlight group differences.

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.

Municipalities that plan have both a legal obligation and a professional directive to incorporate citizens into the planning process, but garnering sufficient and diverse citizen participation is often a struggle. Online participation tools as a component of e-government provide a potential venue for enhancing the participation process. However, e-government participation raises challenges pertaining to trust, exclusion, and responsiveness. This chapter contributes to the understanding of these issues by analyzing how municipalities in the U.S. view the e-participant. The analysis is based on an ongoing longitudinal study that examines planning department web sites for U.S. cities with 2000 census populations of 50,000 or more. The authors’ findings highlight respondents’ views of online tools as a means to further efficiency and citizen satisfaction, rather than as a means by which to potentially enhance discussion of community issues.

Municipalities often struggle to provide citizen participation opportunities that are informative and engaging. E-government tools hold the potential to enhance traditional forms of citizen participation. This chapter examines the use of information and communication technology tools to promote citizen participation. The analysis includes an examination of planning department Web sites over a five-year period (2003-2007) for a sample of U.S. cities with year 2000 populations of 50,000 people or more. This is supplemented with a survey of planning department heads regarding plans for implementation of e-government technology to increase citizen interaction opportunities. The principal findings, while most of the reviewed Web sites provide basic information, an increasing number of cities are adding features to allow for true interaction rather than just information sharing. In fact, some cities are intentionally launching interactive campaigns. The chapter concludes by offering insights into challenges local governments face in implementing e-government technology for citizen interaction.

Sustainable development has been praised as an important new planning paradigm. However, there has been little evaluation of the impact of the concept on the planning process. The purpose of this article is to provide an assessment of the key dimensions of planning for sustainable development, and to use these dimensions in a comparative assessment between communities in the USA that integrated sustainable development into their local comprehensive plan and communities that did not. Results of the analysis indicate limited impact of the concept on the planning process, though process dimensions provide measures for tracking future influence.

The measurement of accessibility and travel patterns in urban areas is described. The methodology presented includes graphical measures of physical accessibility, a numerical index of accessibility that is consistent with graphical measures, residents' accessibility weighted by transport availability, and the relationship between accessibility and travel behaviour. Some empirical results are presented for access and travel to male and female jobs in Sydney, with the use of data collected for the 1971 Census of Population and for the Sydney Area Transportation Study. The consequences of some alternative arrangements of land use and plans to improve public transport on residents' accessibility are investigated. It is argued that accessibility measures are a useful aid to planners and policymakers in the social evaluation of urban structure.