Are We There Yet? Revisiting Planning for Sustainable Development 20 Years Later

Problem, research strategy, and findings: In 2020, Berke and Conroy demonstrated that plan policies did not promote sustainability principles strongly or in a balanced fashion. Has this changed in the intervening years? We conducted a longitudinal analysis of the policies in the updated versions of the plans in Berke and Conroy using their coding framework, comparing scores with the original plans. We found that most of the updated plans from the original study locations have an overarching sustainability vision, though this did not result in consistently higher sustainability scores. Although there were no significant differences in the strength with which sustainability principles were promoted in the updated plans, there were descriptive shifts in the promoted principles. In the updated plans, we found the same imbalance in principles promoted by present policies as in the original plans, making policy integration between principles a key consideration. The progress of policy adoption to promote sustainability principles may be slow; therefore, as more communities frame their comprehensive plans around sustainability, longitudinal studies are required to continue to track the effects of the progress.Takeaway for practice: Sustainability scores for comprehensive plans have not significantly changed from 20 years ago, though more are focused on the concept of sustainability as an overarching vision. Evaluating scores over time provides insight into the nature of progress in supporting that vision.

Automated summary

The research found that while there was an increase in the overarching sustainability vision in the updated plans, the sustainability scores did not significantly improve. Although the strength of promoting sustainability principles did not change, there were descriptive shifts in the promoted principles. Policy integration between principles is crucial to address the imbalance. The importance of longitudinal studies to track progress in promoting sustainability principles is highlighted. Takeaway for practice: Evaluating scores over time provides insight into the nature of progress in supporting the sustainability vision.