Social networks and decision-making for coastal land-use planning, development and adaptation response

ABSTRACT

Sea-level rise has become a front-and-centre policy and management challenge for governments, planners and coastal managers. Local government coastal adaptation responses to climate change impacts and sea-level rise is critical. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the powerful role of social networks in the uptake of science in coastal decision-making. A case study is presented from metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, to examine how an urban coastal development deemed susceptible to coastal hazards was approved. The social network that formed around the proposed development, with its informal connections and shared cultural values, influenced the decision which suited the needs of the network but did not align with provisions in state coastal protection policy. This paper provides an insight into the strategic capability of social networks and the case presented highlights the potential of social network analysis techniques to better understand the complexity of coastal decision-making processes.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Malcolm Alexander. We are indebted to him for his advice and assistance in the use of Social Network Analysis software and sociogram construction.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Beverley Clarke is a social scientist particularly interested in how people influence environmental management. She has been investigating how both formal (governance) and informal (cultural and social) processes affect decision-making processes and outcomes for the environment. Dr Clarke has been conducting research in the area of environmental planning and management, specialising in coasts, over the last 15 years.

Dr Selina Tually is a visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning at The University of Adelaide. Selina’s areas of research interest include local, regional and community economic development, social inclusion, disability and housing, women and housing, housing policy and homelessness.

Dr Michael Scott is a Lecturer in Sociology, Flinders University. His research traverses cultural production, social networks, and urban governance. He has published in Progress in Human Geography, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Journal of Sociology and Poetics, and is author of Making New Zealand’s Pop Renaissance (Ashgate, 2013).

ORCiD

Beverley Clarke http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5904-6845

Selina Tually http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5319-7105

Additional information

Funding

This research was undertaken by the CSIRO Flagship Coastal Collaboration Cluster (2010–2013) with funding from the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund. The Cluster was composed of seven Australian universities working with the CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship and Climate Adaptation Flagship.