Best Practices and Policy Transfer in Spatial Planning

Abstract

Numerous European programs and initiatives have been instrumental in identifying a large and increasing number of examples of best practice (or good practice) in the field of spatial planning. In fact, there is now a profligacy of best practice, which means that many researchers and policy-makers are often confronted with too much information when trying to identify examples of policy and practice in other places. The identification and dissemination of best practices has become a growing industry in many areas of European policy, including spatial planning and urban environmental issues. In many cases, an underlying assumption of best practices is that they are equally applicable and effective in another setting, and that the development and dissemination of best practice will help to lead to improvements in policy and practice in other countries, regions or cities. However, the reality is that best practices have a more limited role in policy-making processes: other influences are frequently more important. The value of exchanging European best practices is limited since there are huge differences in the economic, political or social situation between countries in the European Union. This is particularly true when considering the transfer of best practices between ‘new’ and ‘old’ member states, where the social and economic situation, as well as the institutional frameworks, are often very different in ‘borrowing’ and ‘lending’ countries.     

Planning models in the UK: A survey

This paper presents the results of a survey on the use of computer-based models in the broad areas of planning and strategy formulation in UK companies. This survey updates and complements other recent surveys, which exclusively considered the use of corporate models, and shows a continued increase in the numbers of these models in use. In particular, models in the following broad categories were examined: forecasting, marketing, personnel, production and models of ‘one-off’ situations, as well as corporate and financial models. For such models the paper includes details of: frequencies of occurrence and relationship to company size; professional roles of the model-builders and users respectively; frequencies of use. In these and more subjective ways, the survey attempts to assess the place and value of computers in planning.     

Case studies of technology roadmapping in mining

Mining is a long established art with legacy processes and institutional structures that face rapidly changing technological environments. The perception is that technology planning and forecasting receives priority attention only as far as they may be linked to making production tonnage in the short term, thus giving the impression that new technology may be introduced without developing a culture and operational requirements that influence successful implementation of new technologies. With depleting ore grades of existing mines, and the prevailing global financial crisis making it prohibitive to develop richer sources, mining is considered to be short-term risk averse and this accentuates a more conservative approach towards technology planning and forecasting. Based on surveys and interviews with practicing miners, this paper discusses three case studies on the practice of technology planning and forecasting in mining firms. It is evident that technology planning and forecasting, and particularly the use of the roadmapping approach, is not a ‘culture’ common to mining firms.     

Governing the Circular Economy in the City: Local Planning Practice in London

ABSTRACT

There is interest in the circular economy as a framework for transition from a linear take-make-dispose model of production and consumption, to a circular model which decouples economic growth from resource consumption. However, there is limited understanding of how that applies to the city through governance lens. This paper examines evidence from 28 municipalities in London to unpack the ‘government’ and ‘governance’ of circular economy in the city. It examines the ‘governmentality’ of circular economy in planning practice and reflects on what austerity localism and scalar politics might mean for the planning and governance of circular economy in cities.     

Labour Market Flexibility,Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance

Labour market flexibility is often portrayed as a key to the competitive success of the UK and US economies. We surveyed several hundred firms in the UK, and using the resulting data (on over 200 manufacturing firms) this paper investigates the relationships between firms’ use of flexible work practices, human resource systems and industrial relations on the one hand, and corporate performance on the other hand. The results suggest that ‘low‐road’ practices – short‐term contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training and low levels of human resource sophistication – are negatively correlated with corporate performance. In contrast, it is found that ‘high‐road’ work practices –‘high commitment’ organizations or ‘transformed’ workplaces – are positively correlated with good corporate performance. It is also found that human resource management practices are more likely to contribute to competitive success where they are introduced as a comprehensive package, or ‘bundle’ of practices. Significant interaction effects between human resource systems, trade unions and flexible work practices add further support to the bundling hypothesis.     

The Use of Surveillance Technologies in Planning Enforcement

This article explores the use of surveillance technologies in planning enforcement. Using literature from surveillance studies, it explores the use of well-established and more recent ‘surveillance technologies’, including aerial photography, closed-circuit television and the Street View function in Google Maps. The article identifies the varying use of these technologies in planning enforcement and explains the reasons for this using concepts derived from surveillance studies.     

Citizens' Anti-highway Revolt in Post-Pinochet Chile: Catalyzing Innovation in Transport Planning

During the last third of the 20th century, citizens throughout North America and Europe organized protests against urban highway projects, influencing urban transport planning in ways that shape its evolution to this day. With the globalization of car-centred urban planning models, some similar movements have emerged in developing countries. What, if anything, can they tell us about citizens' role in innovation to achieve more socially just, good and livable cities? Using a multidisciplinary approach grounded in planning theory and a local adaptation of participatory action research methods, this study explores lessons from an anti-highway movement in Santiago, Chile (1997). This study contributes citizens' perspective on crucial issues within the philosophy and history of city planning, examining shifts in governance that can significantly influence the potential for change in planning and city systems, even under adverse conditions. Is improving participation just a matter of ‘getting the process right’? This experience indicates that it requires re-formulating frameworks to encompass democratization, fostering multi-scalar, self-generating civil society organizations, and focusing on the role of organized citizens, rather than individuals, as they act on policy ecologies. The evidence from this Santiago case supports Portugali's argument that planning is both a profession, exercised by especially trained ‘experts’, and a skill exercised by citizens working from their everyday expertise. This example explores the mechanisms through which, even in a relatively hostile environment, self-generated citizen organizations may play a significant role in contesting business-as-usual debates and achieving innovative policies favouring greater equality and sustainability.     

Spatial Planning in Ghana: Exploring the Contradictions

The purpose of this research is twofold: to explore the complexity of spatial plan preparation and implementation in Ghana using Kumasi as a case study; and second, to examine the contradictions of spatial plans and ‘actual development’ occurring in Kumasi. Using social science research methods (semi-structured interviews) and physical survey (land use plans), findings indicate that spatial planning in Kumasi is a bureaucratic process hijacked by urban planning agencies with limited involvement of urban residents. As a result, urban development is considerably influenced by spontaneous informal development patterns (i.e. self-organization). This phenomenon of self-organization is expressed in a context of uncertainty created by weak spatial planning system which encourages haphazard development. Regrettably, in Kumasi, self-organization is often overlooked by spatial planning agencies as they focused on rigid and exclusionary spatial plans. This paper advocates consideration and integration of self-organization processes in spatial planning efforts to respond adequately to the urban development challenges confronting Kumasi.     

Information is Power: Public Disclosure of Information in the Planning Decision-Making Process

The legitimacy and effectiveness of community engagement in planning lies in the extent to which the public can access the information required for informed decision-making. The control of ‘commercially sensitive material’ by local authorities acting as gatekeepers is a therefore a challenging area of information management within the planning application process. Through the analysis of key cases in England, this paper identifies that regulations do provide for ‘commercially sensitive material’ to be released to communities in many cases, but there is a need to achieve better transparency for communities about what information should be available about a development proposal.     

Unequal Regionalism: Regional Planning in China and England

This paper responds to the revival of regionalism in the past two decades by showing that such a re-emergence is unequal. Comparing the practice of regional planning in China and England, this paper has demonstrated that the party-state in China and the liberal-democratic state in England have responded differently to this revival and developed different framework for regional administration and planning. These variations have not only elaborated planners' concern about planning practice in a ‘context of difference’ from social dimension to geographical variations, but also echoed geographers' affirmation that global trends take on different characters in local setting.     

Designing computer models that work

The techniques of financial modelling are becoming more popular and accepted as a useful information processing tool. However, what is ‘financial modelling’ and does the term adequately describe current applications? Why has financial modelling been such a growth area and what are the benefits? Given a desire to build models, where does the manager begin? What type of system and language should be used and by whom? What type of computing facility is most suitable? Which modelling system should be selected and what features are important? As well as an increase in the number of financial modelling applications they are now more complex. What guidelines can one use when designing large and complex models? This article seeks to answer these questions, concentrating on the large and more complex models, particularly for long term planning and budgeting applications. Finally an example is given illustrating how a large modelling system can be constructed and maintained with little technical computer expertise.     

An Evaluation of the Capacity-building Effects of Participatory GIS (PGIS) for Public Participation in Land Use Planning

Spatial participatory methods called ‘participatory GIS’ (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.     

Vulnerability and Agenda: Context and Process in Project Management

This paper explores how the project management role is conditioned by the context in which change is progressed. The argument draws on Pettigrew's (1985, 1987) contextual and processual view of change, a view which does not clarify the management implications of contextual variation. Using data from a two-stage research design combining diary and survey methods, four context dimensions are identified, concerning ‘interlocking’, ‘shifting sands’, ‘ownership’ and ‘senior management view’. For analytical purposes, two extreme contexts are characterized as exposing the project manager to high and low levels of ‘vulnerability’ respectively. Project management literature typically offers a rational-linear account of change, and concentrates on ‘content’ and ‘control’ agendas, concerning technical expertise on the one hand, and planning, budgeting and monitoring techniques on the other. Sociological analyses reveal the limitations of the rational-linear account, and focus on the political and cultural dimensions of the ‘process’ agenda. The data suggest how contextual variation affects the relative priority of these agendas. The management implications of these findings are explored, for project management selection, career progression, and the development of diagnostic skills and ‘agenda management’ strategies.     

Planning with Preschoolers: City Mapping as a Planning Tool

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that children ‘have the right to be heard in matters affecting them’ (Article 12). Given that planning matters such as housing, transport, services and recreation provision affect children, it is necessary, therefore, for planners to engage with children. While planning has made considerable progress in working with older children, preschool children have been overlooked. Preschoolers are commonly seen as lacking the understanding necessary to comprehend the city scale. This paper presents a tile-based city-mapping method that demonstrates preschool children do understand city-scale features and relationships. Further, this method could be used in planning to advocate for and to engage with very young children in planning conversations.     

Strategic flexibility analysis of HRD research and practice post COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

While governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-profits, corporations are all aware that disruptions through pandemics and other natural bio-disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic can happen, barely are we proactive about them. Instead, we are always reactive. In a virtual Town Hall meeting of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) held on 9 April 2020, on the theme ‘How is the pandemic a game-changer for HRD?,’ the President of AHRD, Laura Bierema, challenged HRD scholars to determine the possible futures of HRD scholarship post-COVID-19 Pandemic. This article proposes the use of the Strategic Flexibility Framework (SFF) to determine the possible futures of HRD post-COVID-19 pandemic. I first discuss the SFF as a scenario planning and analysis tool. I then developed four scenarios of possible futures for HRD Research and Practice post-COVID-19 pandemic. These scenarios include the ‘Meaning of work,’ ‘Leadership,’ ‘Contactless Commerce & Education,’ and ‘Volunteerism.’ I conclude by discussing the important opportunities that can serve as intervention points for post-COVID-19 HRD theory, research, and practice.     

A commonsense approach to portfolio planning

For the diversified firm, business portfolio planning offers a way of determining its individual businesses' roles and developing a synergistic corporate strategy. In practice, however, the common tools of portfolio planning—the growth/share and market attractiveness/business position matrices—present problems in that often neither of the matrices is precisely suitable for a given individual business. This article makes use of modifications of the growth/share and market attractiveness/business position matrices in order to make them more operational. The authors believe that a step-by-step ‘shirt-sleeve’ approach to portfolio planning can make this type of analysis accessible and invaluable to a small diversified firm, as well as providing insights to larger corporations with formal planning departments.     

Getting the Planners Off Our Backs: Questioning the Post-Political Nature of English Planning Policy

There is now a large body of work that seeks to understand the evolution of planning systems across the globe, particularly the adaptation of planning to/under varying forms of neoliberalism. Some of this research seeks to provide empirical insights into new state spaces and the actors that occupy them. Others have made theoretical explanation of the reform agenda their goal. In sum much of the literature now points to an academic understanding of government policies on planning as representative of a ‘new moment’, characterized by a post-political narrowing of debate on what the fundamental objectives of the activity should be. In this contribution, we find grounds to agree with aspects of this analysis that takes the post-political as an explanatory framework. However, using the passage of the UK Localism and Decentralization Bill into law as the Localism Act 2011, we argue that the process of enacting planning reform was accompanied by acts of manipulation (heresthetics) and decontestation that accord more closely to traditional and long-standing methods of political action motivated by ideology.     

The human side of merger planning

This article argues that chief executive officers and staff planners must more explicitly integrate ‘change planning’ with the other dimensions of merger planning (e.g. financial, marketing) if implementation is to be successful. Based on recent research, guidelines for gaining acceptance of merger are presented and discussed. The need to distinguish between gaining initial acceptance, on the one hand, and continuing acceptance on the other is stressed, and the guidelines carry forward that distinction. Such guidelines should be integrated into the overall strategic plan developed for merger.     

The benefits of planning with normative and heuristic approaches

The effectiveness of planning groups that used normative planning approaches and heuristics were investigated. The quality and innovation in plans developed using each planning approach were compared. Two studies were carried out in three organizations. In the first study, a ‘behavioral’ planning approach and a heuristic were used in a single organization. In the second study, a ‘systems’ planning approach and the heuristic were applied in two organizations. The field experiments demonstrated that the normative planning methods produced plans with superior quality and higher information levels. No differences in plan innovation were observed. Some guides for practice were derived from these findings.