Planning as Managing Uncertainty: Making the 1996 Livable Region Strategic Plan for Greater Vancouver

Abstract

The concepts of planning and uncertainty are closely linked. The purpose of this research was to examine and learn from practice by applying the concept of planning as managing uncertainty to the making of a metropolitan plan for Greater Vancouver, Canada. The Livable Region Strategic Plan was prepared between 1989 and 1996. The story of this plan-making process is a dynamic interplay of expected and desired outcomes, actions and proposed actions, and uncertainties. This provides insights about the nature of metropolitan planning and about how to improve practice and planning outcomes.

Acknowledgements

The assistance of the GVRD, and particularly Hugh Kellas and Christina DeMarco, with this research is greatly appreciated.