This thesis focuses on communicative participation processes and the mutual
understanding that can occur amongst participants. This mutual understanding can often
lead to better sustainability planning outcomes. It analyzes both the process and the
outcomes of the process through a case study. The principle research question addressed
is: does communicative participation in development processes, by a broad range of
interests, contribute to social, environmental, and economic sustainability?
The research instruments include: action research conducted by the author in the
Southeast False Creek Model Sustainable Community Planning Process case study,
which took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; twenty qualitative interviews
with the members of a policy Advisory Group, staff of the local civic government, and
political representatives; and analysis of the key planning documents generated by the
process and other contextual documentation. The findings from the action research are
presented, followed by the qualitative interview findings. These two types of results
(which were conducted independently of each other) were then compared, analyzed, and
contrasted with the literature in an iterative manner.
The literature consulted includes: communicative action, communicative action in
planning, public participation, sustainable development and sustainable urban
development (ecological, social, and economic). Two sets of criteria, one for the process
and the other for the outcome, were derived from the literature review.
The research findings indicate that this case study is an example of a reasonably good
communicative participation process that was deep and long-term, but did not involve the
broader community as well as it could have. The analysis concludes, however, that power
played a significant role in this case study. This highlights the need for communicative
action theory in planning to be supplemented, extended, and revised. Communicative
action theory could be strengthened by being supplemented by political economic theory,
progressive planning theory, mobilization theory, and postmodern trans-cultural planning
theory.
The process outcome, the policy for Southeast False Creek, was found to make
marked progress towards ecological sustainability, and marginal movement towards
economic sustainability. The policy was found to be quite lacking in terms of social
sustainability, although it was given more consideration than in previous development
policy in Vancouver. A lack of focus on social sustainability was found in the process,
and this was reflected in the policy. Although the sustainability policy was found to be
quite weak overall, it did lead towards greater sustainable urban development in
Vancouver, and increased awareness about sustainability in the development policy
community.
This thesis makes a significant contribution to communicative action theory by
analyzing a case study that put this theory into practice. It may also improve planning
practice by recommending ways to improve communicative participation processes. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/15841 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Irwin, John Jacob Michael |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 27571850 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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