Competing claims in land-use policy: property development and mineral aggregates industries

Abstract

This paper offers an empirically grounded understanding of the historical processes by which economic and institutional actors, particularly industry networks operating over time, influenced regional-scale land use policies at critical junctures involving land conflicts. The research addresses understudied discourses, practices and relationships associated with changes in land use policy. The paper draws on theories of land conflicts and industry networks to examine multi-actor contestations over land use and growth. It highlights the role of industry networks of the property development and aggregate industries in influencing provincial land use policies. Using a multi-method approach, we examine a case of Ontario provincial government brokerage of conflicting proposals for the development of regional-scale lands on Toronto’s urban periphery. A key finding is that fundamental differences in the organization and bargaining power of the two industries translate into differential effectiveness in multi-stakeholder negotiations.