‘Fantasies of Consensus:’ Planning Reform in Sydney, 2005–2013

This paper examines the battle to reform and streamline the planning system in Sydney, Australia, between 2005 and 2013. It analyses the strategies the State of NSW has pursued to manage ongoing conflicts over development, and reflects on the challenges the State has encountered in its attempt to redefine democratic engagement, justify decisions, claim legitimacy and forge a consensus around a more pro-development planning system. While New South Wales’ planning reform strategies have pursued an apparently ‘post-political’ agenda (Swyngedouw, Apocalypse forever? Post-political populism and the spectre of climate change, Theory Culture and Society, 27(2–3):213–232, 2010), using policy solutions to depoliticize difficult decisions, the reform process has exacerbated rather than defused conflicts. The story raises questions about the extent to which the new governing strategies of a post-political era can offer effective forums to forge consensus, or to stage-manage agreement over metropolitan development conflicts.     

Taking Stock of Neighbourhood Planning in England 2011–2016

Neighbourhood planning (NP) as enabled by the 2011 Localism Act in England has precipitated a considerable literature discussing its potential, limitations and likely shortcomings referenced against government rhetoric and the reporting of initial experiences of the process. This paper provides an overview of the current literature on neighbourhood planning and sets out how it has been received and practised across England drawing on empirical evidence. The extent of take-up and the experience of those involved in the first five years of neighbourhood planning is used to consider how community-led planning may be designed and used following operational principles of inclusivity, capacity-building and adding value.     

中国电力工业发展:改革进程与配套改革

本文简单回顾了电力体制改革及近期的电力市场改革。文章分析了电力市场改革应先考虑几个重要宏观问题和一系列相关的配套改革,详细地讨论了中国电价机制经历的一系列变革,目前改革的长期目标和中短期改革重点,说明了国有企业的高度集中是电力行业许多基本问题的根源和国有企业改革的重要性。文章还对“煤电联动”、煤价改革,以保证煤电协调发展提出了建议。文章进一步讨论了中国能源问题,提出能源是中国经济增长的“硬约束”,节能、环保和能源战略规划的重要性和机构保证,以及开展充分的能源经济研究是能源战略规划的必需条件。     

Spain Following in the EU’s Footsteps: The Europeanization of Spatial Planning in its Autonomous Communities

Recent years have seen the emergence of the European dimension to the territorial planning conducted at lower scales, in a process described as the ‘Europeanization’ of spatial planning. Given that, to date, this phenomenon has received little attention as it affects Spain, this article seeks to analyse the impact of Europeanization on Spanish spatial planning, focused on an examination of its regional territorial plans. The results show that Spain has been no exception in the application of these European directives but, at the same time, its unique administrative organization means that the process of Europeanization remains slow and heterogeneous in its application.     

Recent and Past Governance Reforms in Latin America: What Can We Learn?

By doing a parallel between old and new reforms on governance issues applied in Latin America, this paper seeks to identify learnings as well as to understand what is new and what is not from this type of policy endeavor. The article focuses on the analysis of the State reforms implemented in Latin America during the 1920s and those of the 1990s. It shows that modernization of public administration follows the State reform; that needs calling for modernization are permanent; and that while ends pursued by the State change in the long run, modernization has to be a permanent activity.

     

Strategic Planning in the Malawi Public Sector: Potential Tool for Progress or Regression?

The process of developing strategic plans in the public sector is regarded as one indicator of positive reform in the system. The assumption is that strategic planning ensures that (just like in the private sector) public sector organizations’ operations should cost less but deliver better service. Ultimately the argument is that public sector institutional governance and responsiveness to the citizenry is not only seen but felt. However, strategic planning has to be done in an appropriate manner for it to deliver. For instance an analysis of the underlying motives, the role of leadership in the process as well as the relevance or viability of the guiding strategic planning model significantly affect the nature of expected results. In the early 2000s, the Malawi public sector embarked on a serious drive towards strategic planning process as part of its reform package. In order to ascertain it’s potential to transform the Malawi public service, this paper focuses at critically analyzing the strategic planning process in the Malawi public sector by among other things asking: who initiated and led the process? What approach determined the process? What is the possible potentiality of the adopted strategic planning approach in enhancing the reform agenda in Malawi? Based on interviews with senior officers in key Malawi public sector institutions, the paper concludes that the strategic planning process is ‘transitional and fluid’ hence lacks the clout to effectively enhance reforms in this sector. Another finding is that lack of effective leadership has largely contributed to the status quo.     

Integrated Education for Resilient Urban Adaptation: Wildfire Risk Reduction in Australia

Abstract

Urban and regional planning education seeks, often through highly applied teaching, to develop students’ abilities allowing them to work meaningfully on emergent urban and regional issues. However, it is relatively uncommon that education itself develops alongside government policy and research agendas. This paper documents the development of a new tertiary wildfire management qualification prepared in partnership with planning and building agencies after the devastating 2009 Victorian wildfires. It is argued that the process of developing educational outcomes in this case paralleled an interactive and ongoing agenda of research, policy development and education that represents adaptive-ness facilitating resilience as learning and institutional change.     

Experiences of running negotiable and non-negotiable developer contributions side-by-side

In England, Since the 1970s, a system of negotiated project-specific agreements between local planning authorities and developers/landowners has evolved into the sole mechanism by which part of land value uplift ‘released’ by the grant of planning permission is captured by government. In 2010, in an attempt to simplify and speed up the planning process – negotiated planning agreements were regarded as time-consuming and a brake on development – the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was introduced. Originally intended as a simple flat rate charge to replace site-specific planning agreements, CIL now sits alongside that mechanism so that developers pay CIL to help fund infrastructure provision in the locality, whilst planning agreements help mitigate the impact of their development and provide affordable housing. The experience of running a system of negotiated planning agreements alongside a non-negotiable infrastructure levy offers an opportunity to evaluate these policy shifts in order to assess their strengths and weaknesses and whether there are any wider lessons for international discussions of best practice in land value capture. Drawing on survey findings the paper considers the implementation of CIL alongside planning agreements, the revenue and expenditure patterns, and the impact of these combined land value capture mechanisms on development activity and, in particular, on affordable housing supply.     

加入WTO后的中国:调整、改革与竞争力的提升

经过长达十几年的艰苦谈判之后 ,中国终于在２００１年年末正式加入了ＷＴＯ。事先人们对中国加入ＷＴＯ所面临机遇和挑战的种种分析和预言 ,正在被实践所检验。在加入ＷＴＯ后的新形势下 ,有些情况是原先预料到的 ,有些情况原先估计不足 ,还有的情况是新出现的。中国正处在加入ＷＴＯ后的初期 ,加入ＷＴＯ对中国经济影响哪些是短期的 ,哪些是长期的 ,哪些是表层的 ,哪些是潜在的 ,哪些是比较确定的 ,哪些是不大确定的 ,仍然有必要依据中国加入ＷＴＯ的协议条款和变化了的国际国内形势 ,做出进一步接近实际的估计和判断。尤为重要的是 ,中国…     

A Manifesto for Information Management Research

This paper calls for major rethinking in information management research as we enter the second half of the 1990s and approach the 21st century. It argues that, should we not take up the challenges identified herein, it is likely that what little remains of the discipline ‘information management’ will be subsumed into the realms of computer science/engineering at one end of the spectrum, and strategic management and organizational behaviour at the other. It argues that while it is no bad thing that aspects of the topic are dealt with in these related fields, it is important that information management should be seen as a discipline in its own right. In order to achieve this recognition – indeed, in order to earn this recognition – major restoration is required. The paper seeks to begin a debate on this topic by presenting a manifesto¹ for reform in the field of information management by discussing a series of concerns regarding the focus, methods and quality of research in this field; its reference disciplines, and its international and cross-cultural considerations. This is not meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the issues by any means, but an attempt to present aspects of the topic that are of importance. By commencing the debate, it is hoped that the issues will become clearer, and action can begin to be taken. The list will doubtless be refined as the debate ensues.     

企业信息化战略规划的一种新的分析框架模型

对已有的企业信息化战略规划方法进行了评述.基于业务流程的价值分析和变革性分析,提出了一种新的企业信息化规划的分析框架模型.模型强调对价值链设计的快速响应能力,着力体现信息基础设施与应用的动态一致性,同时希望具有较强的支持高层决策的能力.     

The dangerous quest for certainty in market forecasting

Over the past 4 years, the Pharmaceutical Division of CIBA-GEIGY has developed a series of market forecasts in probabilistic terms, explicitly incorporating the principal uncertainties affecting the future sales of new pharmaceutical products. Such probabilistic forecasting methods have now been applied successfully by many pharmaceutical companies, including CIBA-GEIGY, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Sandoz. At CIBA-GEIGY this forecasting process has assisted the Divisional Management Committee with various business decisions, and in particular with capacity expansion planning. The benefits of this approach have been aptly described by the member of that committee responsible for production worldwide, Dr. Hans M. Götz, ‘Since we have used the probability curve for active substance requirements, the most valuable result has not been that we get now any better single number, such as mean, mode or any other figure, but that we have the curve at all. No longer do production people and market forecasters accuse each other because of a “wrong” figure. Both sides are aware of the uncertainties and therefore their dialogue has become more constructive. Decisions are made and the results are reviewed in light of the curve that represents our best judgment when action is required. Thus our principal benefit has been the improvement in the quality and co-ordination of management effort in production planning and resource allocation.’ This paper explains in detail the steps needed to prepare a probabilistic market forecast and demonstrates how such a forecast can yield significantly different and better production capacity decisions and improved insight into the related process of market planning.     

Strategic planning in a turbulent international environment

What we have argued in this paper is that fundamental changes in the multinational corporate environment are taking place raising proaches to multinational environmental surveillance and multinational strategic management. We arenot offering this as a forecast of what the future will bring. Instead, we are proposing this framework to point to the need for greater environmental orientation and adaptation. MNCs are now in a double squeeze and managers must unlearn past models and criteria to understand problem. But the challenge is more than conventional corporate planning. The problematique can be decribed as one of multinational strategic management. In the area of environment we need research and learning to address three basic questions:What is the MCE? What concepts of the environment should be considered for strategic management? What parameters should be monitored? What are some consequences of the concept of interdependence and turbulence?What multinational environmental surveillance should be done? What methodologies are needed? How can these be made operational? How can the corporation be educated to behave in the new mode required in view of these changes?What new strategic issues and challenges lenges emerges from the MCE? What new demands must be factored into the multinational corporate planning processes? What new content does the changing environment procedure? How can the broadening field of opportunities and threats be systematically mapped and understood?     

Towards Next-Generation Urban Resilience in Planning Practice: From Securitization to Integrated Place Making

Resilience is a concept incorporating a vast range of contemporary risks and over recent years has become increasingly important to our understanding of contemporary planning policy and practice. This paper examines the changing nature of resilience strategies since 2000 and highlights how planners increasingly are asked to contribute to this agenda. Drawing on the emerging theories of urban resilience, this paper charts the emergence of different ‘styles’ of resilience over the last decade in the UK, with an emphasis on a range of policies associated with designing safer spaces. Emerging lessons are then deployed to highlight how a new generation of urban resilience practice is now emerging associated with embedding resiliency into local place-making activities. This paper concludes by reflecting upon the multiple uses of resilience in planning practice.     

New Spatial Concepts Between Innovation and Lock-in: The Case of the Dutch Deltametropolis

It is often proclaimed that planning concepts serve an innovative function in the political process. They are praised as powerful tools that carry new insights and understandings into policy arenas. By examining the emergence and development of a new planning concept in the Dutch national spatial policy-making process, the deltametropolis concept, this paper questions this position. It argues that new spatial concepts tend to lose much of their innovative capacities when they enter the political arena and become encased in the traditional urban–rural planning discourse, thus reaffirming established planning orientations. The Dutch case of the deltametropolis illustrates that new spatial concepts may entail potential for innovation as much as for lock-in.     

Strategic planning in a changing corporate environment

Strategic planning is about nothing, if it is not about attempting to achieve desirable futures. In the past this has often been seen as an excuse, or indeed a necessity, for fixed goals which are constantly timed. Such a state of planning has, fortunately, for a long time now been discredited and this paper concentrates upon the concepts of strategic planning within the changing corporate environment, an environment which therefore has to effect both the goals as well as the process of planning. Furthermore, the author concentrates upon the concept of a planning, allocating, and monitoring cycle of strategic planning which sets the strategic planning concept within a process cycle as well as within an effective allocative structure. The author considers this latter point an extremely important one since, as he says, ‘planning can become a very sterile and barren activity if it is not viewed integrally with acting and doing’. Finally, this paper concentrates on the important fact that planning must, within a dynamic environment, be an iterative and a learning process.     

Performance planning and control in virtual business structures

It could be argued that the development of new business models has occurred at such a pace that many of the important considerations accompanying their development have been overlooked. It is interesting to note that due to the shift away from traditional business structures such as vertically integrated, closely controlled organizations, towards virtual organizations, for which coordination is more important, we have not paid sufficient attention to the important issues of planning and control needs for these new structures. This contribution reviews recent discussion on the structure of new business models and identifies some of the attempts at introducing planning and control into these organizations. The article proposes an approach to this problem by considering the components of the new business models, their stakeholders and their objectives and offers a model which forms the basis from which research can commence.     

Manpower in corporate planning

In this article, the author seeks to show the importance of giving thorough consideration to manpower in all planning activities, whether long or short term. He also emphasizes that manpower planning lies at the heart of all rational personnel activities, if they are to contribute as they should to the objectives of the organization. He outlines the elements of manpower planning, the main methods of forecasting demand and supply, both within and outside the organization and sets out the main elements of the manpower plan.     

系统受力的因果链出树传递效应分类分析法研究——对中国农村新医改五大对策实施的传递效应的实证分析

社会经济系统发展的不同阶段不断受到新的对策、政策、规划、项目作用力的作用,为实现高效发展,迫切需要一种新的系统科学方法,有效揭示系统发展的受力产生的直接效应、部门间延迟效应及整体延迟效应。本文将系统动力学因果链理论及图论的树理论结合,新建立系统受力不考虑反馈作用的因果链出树,进行因果链分类,分析不同因果链出树中的直接作用枝、部门延迟传递效应枝、平衡发展效果枝,揭示出各受力的系统发展的直接效应、部门间延迟效应、持续发展的整体延迟效应。并以当前中国农村新医改五大对策实施效应实例对此方法进行了有效应用,提出了对策实施的直接效应、延迟效应及整体效应分析的新思路和技术。这种方法将对仿真分析有重要作用。     

Defining the health care product to ensure quality and manage costs

The frenzy of health care reform activity now led by the Clinton Administration's American Health Security Act of 1993 might end in the worst of all possible outcomes: a new government entitlement program financed by business and a global budget. Unbridled entitlement could drive utilization of benefits to the maximum and, with a budget cap, guarantee rationing. So far, the administration has talked about expanding access and controlling costs--not about the health care product. Given the threat that change poses for vested interests, time will undoubtedly lapse before final implementation of a new system. Unless physicians involved in health management seize the opportunity during this window of opportunity to help shape the future of health care delivery, the likelihood of preserving the U.S. health care delivery system as we know it will be dim indeed.