Integrating environmental and economic analysis into strategic planning

Abstract

Interest in the economy vs the environment debate has grown substantially since the publication of the 'Brundtland Report' by the World Commission on Environment and Development, in 1987. The concept of sustainable development, which advocates the importance of integrating economic development with the environment, is now recognised worldwide. It is apparent that sustainable development cannot be achieved unless changes are made to a wide range of institutional, technical, political and social systems. Within these systems are opportunities to achieve desired environmental goals and outcomes. Land use planners in particular, have a major role in influencing economic development outcomes by adopting the strategic planning process to identify and designate future land uses to meet the future needs o f the economy and the community. To date, this process has not included an adequate analysis of environmental and economic issues. This lack o f comprehensive strategic planning results in not only major environmental disasters, but also huge economic costs to the community of'cleaning-up' damage that could have been prevented. By addressing environmental and economic issues ex ante rather than ex post, using an appropriate planning technique in the strategic planning process, the planning profession would have a pivotal role in not only promoting economic development, but also in preventing potential environmental impacts. To date, planners in Queensland and, it appears, in Australia have failed to incorporate these principles into the strategic planning process. Aside from a number of'once-off studies undertaken for specific developments and studies, planning techniques have not been used to identify and designate land uses in strategic plans. The aim of this project is to illustrate the potential benefits of incorporating environmental and economic analysis into strategic planning to improve the land use decision-making process. In this project, a Modified UET Model has been developed that incorporates environmental and economic analysis, and is promoted for use in strategic planning. The Model is applied on two different case studies in Queensland as a means of demonstrating that by applying it in the strategic planning process, the economic costs could have been avoided. It is intended to show that the Modified UET Model is a simple, systematic planning process, which, if applied, can reap rewards by not only promoting economic development, but can prevent environmental damage. It would also put the planning profession in an influential role in terms of addressing the economy vs environment debate. The strategic planning process is not advocated as the solution to all development impacts on the environment, but it can potentially contribute substantially.