Fuzzy Planning: The Role of Actors in a Fuzzy Governance Environment

Many of the key notions associated with spatial planning, such as 'sustainability' and 'compact city' are essentially 'fuzzy' in their nature. For example, while almost everyone accepts 'sustainability' as one of the more important goals of planning, the outcome of the ambition to achieve 'sustainability' is often almost non-existent. Actors might inadvertently act in conflicting ways in the mistaken belief that their actions are contributing to 'sustainable development'. In this kind of situation, the outcome of planning might be minimal, or even counterproductive. This edited volume focuses on actor-consulting and argues that it can be used as a tool to address the fuzzy nature of planning. Actor-consulting is based on an assessment and subsequent analysis of actor motives, perceptions and contributions, as a tool to address differences in understanding and perception. This tool can be used to clarify, unpack and elaborate on situations where fuzziness appears to be present. By inviting all actors to express their desired contribution, their actual contribution and their potential contribution to achieving an agreed outcome to a local policy issue, decision-makers have a means to develop their goals in line with the role, motivation, perception and behaviour of the various actors involved. The book, then, presents case studies which describe the use of the actor consulting model in addressing planning issues that are located in a variety of contexts, focusing in particular on the fuzzy notion of 'sustainability'.