Decision making in the assessment of land use suitability : the case of crown foreshore planning in Ladysmith harbour, British Columbia
Date
1982
Authors
Moyse, Geoff
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Abstract
As human population increases, and resource supplies dwindle, the importance of the land base increases. As such, decisions about allocation of land to certain uses and about t he preservation of the quality and integrity of that land also become increasingly significant. Now, more than ever in human history, decision making with respect to land use is becoming a critically important process.
In the past, demand has often dictated land and resource use patterns as well as the extent of such use. While the supply of land and resources seemed infinite and the population was small, few people saw any real problem with this scenario. Now, however, it is becoming necessary to base such use patterns on the capability of the land, rather than solely on demand. In response to this fact, resource and land use planning programs are being emphasized by several government agencies in British Columbia. Such land use suitability planning, however, is subject to certain problems and constraints which are common in many other decision making situations.
This thesis examines theoretical elements of decision making, the principal factors that tend to influence or condition decisions, and applies this body of theory to a case of land use suitability planning in British Columbia. The case study chosen is the Ladysmith Harbour Crown Foreshore Plan, completed by the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing in 1981.
The thesis reviews the stages of decision making and the fundamental aspects of the normative and behavioral approaches. It then examines three major types of influence which tend to affect decision processes. It is posited that influence can be passive or assumptive in terms of preconditioning decision scenarios; procedural in the sense that problems with process or logistics can skew decision outcomes; and/or active in terms of interest group, public, bureaucracy and media input directing decision outcomes. The thesis also examines the relative effect of these three types of influence on the Ladysmith Harbour decision process, and the degree to which that decision process successfully balances the various behavioral inputs involved.
It is noted that the decision process in the Ladysmith Harbour case represents an example of decision making in which the various behavioral influences involved have not been carefully balanced. It is determined that passive influence-the socio-economic assumptions made by the decision makers-caused the process to reaffirm a status quo situation, rather than meeting its stated goals and objectives. To a lesser degree procedural influence-in the form of shortages of time, funding and data-conditioned the decision process towards inaction by limiting its objectivity and comprehensiveness. Active influence is concluded to have been of relatively little importance in dictating the outcome of the decision process, due to the presence of strong and encompassing initial value assumptions.
It is concluded that better coordination of land use suitability decision making is needed in British Columbia; that land use planners should be aware of the relative merits and drawbacks of normative and behavioral approaches to decision making and of the need for careful balancing of behavioral considerations. It is also concluded that decision makers should be aware of the critical importance of the three major types of influence that are reviewed here, and the relative ability of these to condition and bias decision outcomes, if they are not properly balanced in the decision process.
It is hoped that the results of this research in detailing the components of the decision process and reviewing the principal types of influence that can affect that process-as well as analyzing the effects of such influences on a practical example of decision making in British Columbia-will provide future decision makers with a better understanding of the process and some of the critical positive and negative effects of various types of influence.