Title: Sustainability narratives and planning agendas: charting the influence of sustainable development discourse on planning policy in Western Australia

Authors: Diane Hopkins

Addresses: Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, Department of Planning and Architecture, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK

Abstract: The sustainable development discourse has significantly shaped the way planners talk about planning problems and their potential solutions. Drawing upon an analysis of Western Australian planning between 1990 and 2004, this paper argues that the mainstreaming of sustainability ideas has had more impact on policy-making processes than on the substantive content of planning strategies. In Western Australia sustainability has become a discursive device for advocating compact city policies and collaborative approaches to policymaking. This discourse was adopted for strategic reasons to frame preferred policy options that represented what policymakers viewed as 'good' planning decisions and also to share responsibility with communities for addressing planning problems.

Keywords: sustainable development; compact cities; collaborative planning; public engagement; partnerships; Australia; sustainability; planning agendas; planning policy; preferred options; policy options.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSS.2013.055888

International Journal of Society Systems Science, 2013 Vol.5 No.3, pp.245 - 260

Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

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