Better Than Good: Three Dimensions of Plan Quality

Abstract

The literature suggests that plan quality should be distinguished as a type of plan evaluation not only for its focus on content but also for its communicative ends. This distinction is important for expanding the scope of plan quality evaluation, but it also highlights ambiguity about what we mean by "quality." As a way to address this ambiguity we propose three dimensions of plan quality: documentation (comprehensiveness), policy focus (strength), and discourse (persuasiveness). We also propose a set of four principles for evaluating the strength of policy focus: maximize stability, minimize uncertainty, integrate public priorities across jurisdictions, and accommodate flexibility.

Creating a Novel Multi-Layered Integrative Climate Change Adaptation Planning Approach Using a Systematic Literature Review

“…Generally, an assessment of the quality of a plan is complex and difficult which requires the consideration of some general and case-specific criteria [5,6]. Specifically, the degree of success of a climate change adaptation plan requires an assessment criteria approach incorporating multiple factors, such as legitimacy, equity, and efficiency, as well as the unified capacity to adapt [7].…”

Metropolitan planning in the Calgary region: A case study of farmland protection in the Municipal District of Foothills

“…To achieve these research objectives, three research questions guide the investigation in an effort to inform more robust metropolitan planning empowered to protect farmland despite the threats created to arable land by urban growth and economic development. The first question asked, what is the quality of the agricultural land use planning legislative framework in the study area based on Connell and Daoust-Filiatrault's (2018) method of plan evaluation? This method assesses the efficacy, or the power to produce expected outcomes, by evaluating planning documents' capacities for farmland protection against four principles: maximized stability, minimized uncertainty, integration across jurisdictions, and accommodated flexibility.…”

“…Norton (2008) added 'development management' as a third category of planning evaluation to measure the extent to which growth has been managed. Connell and Daoust-Filiatrault (2018) contributed plan quality as an additional subset of plan evaluation.…”

“…The evaluation of the local legislative framework employed content analysis and was guided by the method outlined by Connell and Daoust-Filiatrault (2018). Plan evaluation, as presented in the literature review, has considered the efficiency of the development of documents, the efficacy or quality of those documents as they written, and their effectiveness in implementation.…”

“…Land use planning policy and legislation in localities across Canada has been found to have varying strengths for protecting farmland from conversion to other uses (Connell, Caldwell, Bryant, Johnston, & Margulis, 2016;Connell & Daoust-Filiatrault, 2018).…”