Professor Mark Tewdwr -Jones Bartlett School of Planning University College London

1. Ecosystems and Urban Planning:Implications for planningValuing Our Life Support Systems, Natural Capital Initiative Conference, London, April 2009 Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones Bartlett School of Planning University College London m.tewdwr-jones@ucl.ac.uk

2. Opportunities for land use planning and ecosystems (DEFRA 2007) • The planning system plays a vital role in the protection and enhancement of the natural environment. • Embedding the principles of an ecosystems approach in the planning system will help it achieve its over-arching goal of sustainable development by: • ensuring that the positive and negative impacts of development on ecosystem services are reflected in sustainability appraisals • enabling planners to more effectively integrate environmental, social and economic objectives • improving the information available to planners in the decision-making process.

3. The changing face of planning • Planning in the UK already undergoing a metamorphosis Implications: • The historic role and position of planning in the UK now challenged • Susceptible to high political discretion and influence in remoulding planning purpose • Increasing economic focus of planning and development agendas under the sustainable development label • Employment of spatial planning and place making agendas alongside land use planning • ‘Front loading’ in plan making, enhanced information base and participation prior to strategy agreement • Growing importance and influence of environmental matters in strategy making • Policy and delivery mechanisms transcending administrative and sectoral boundaries

4. Planning as a Mediation and Coordinative Process • Meeting European, national and regional needs against a global backdrop • Attracting economic growth and the private sector, but also dealing with implications of growth • Balancing growth with infrastructure provision • Balancing environmental costs with economic gains • Balancing local and community desires with wider social concern • Aligning plans, speedy development decisions, and resources • Mediating between conflicting users and allow more people a voice within the development process

5. National and regional planning • Nationally important developments, new national policy statements for major infrastructure and new decision making process (IPC) • Need to embed the principles of an ecosystems approach in its new standard policy-making procedures • Sub-National Review proposed integrated regional strategy, led by RDAs, replacing the RESs and RSSs and expands RDAs’ functions to include regional planning. • Challenges: 1. Ensuring environmental services are given political priority 2. It will be important to ensure that environmental sustainability remains a priority in this new regional landscape. 3. Integrated and partnership working at the regional level. Problems of: lack of clear leadership organisational barriers capacity and capability issues timing issues

6. Local planning • Local government has an important role to play in delivering a healthy natural environment through local plans and strategies • Levers include Local Area Agreements (LAAs), which set priorities for local areas; Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs); Sustainable Community Strategies; Local Development Frameworks; local networks and partnerships; statutory duties; Community Infrastructure Levy and other incentives. • Challenges: 1. Balancing economic, environmental and social priorities and political objectives 2. Getting decision-makers to focus on the natural environment 3. Building up the evidenced base – how, where and by whom? 4. Integrating environmental services issues early in the policy process 5. Dangers of targeted development and growth parachuted in at 11th hour

7. Opportunities and obstacles ahead • Uncertainty of legal framework and legitimacy – planning law/environmental law etc. • Inability to consider issues strategically beyond existing boundaries and politics • Applying ecosystem services valuations in policy- and decision-making • Developing, building in and utilising the evidence base • Improving methodologies for valuing ecosystem services • Shift in balance of power and discretionary judgement • Shift to political and trade relationships rather than spatial ones • Determining who pays for public goods and how • Capacity of planners to recognise and understand ecosystems