Flexibility versus Certainty: Unsettling the Land-use Planning Shibboleth in Australia

Abstract

Within the planning literature, the distinction between regulatory planning and strategic spatial planning has exposed a recurring dichotomy that exists between the idea of ‘conforming’ (regulative certainty) and ‘performing’ (strategic flexibility) plans and planning systems. This paper critically examines the divergent trajectories of land-use policy and regulation in two Australian states, Queensland and New South Wales. This paper concludes by arguing that the flexibility/certainty dilemma is something of an artifice—a land-use planning shibboleth—that serves to distract professional and scholarly attention away from substantive issues such as how planning might better engender more sustainable urban settlements.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their comments.

Notes

1. Other associated policy shifts include: the NSW Housing Code, the Building Professionals Amendment Bill 2008, and the Strata Management Legislation Amendment Bill 2008.