Local Planning and National Environmental Assessment Procedures: The Developer's Mitigated Role in Disjointed Negotiation Processes

Abstract

Brief analyses are made of both the Portuguese planning system and the project environmental impact assessment (EIA) system. Major trends in planning practice are characterised and the scope for bargaining processes is critically addressed. The procedural and institutional separation between these systems is emphasised. A contrast is made between the localised nature of planning practice and the independent centralised approach to environmental assessment in Portugal. In this context, a case study of the planning application for a large tourism development condominium, involving the preparation of an environmental assessment, is presented. A contradictory framework for bargaining emerges out of this case. The search for scientific evidence to support the decision-making process is impaired by changing environmental arguments throughout a long administrative process. Diverging local development interests versus national conservation interests are explored and a strong case for a collaborative approach is justified. Finally, evidence is gathered to support the view that the separation between the planning system and the EIA system create a disjointed framework for bargaining, in which the developer is bound to perform a difficult and somehow secondary mitigated role.