Single-purposism, as we have seen, tends to create projects with a negative impact on the environment. Instead, we should design projects with as favourable an environmental impact as possible. This is the objective of Environmental Impact Design.
The impact questions in this appendix have been grouped, as general and sectoral questions, in a similar order to their discussion in the book. Clearly, the questions overlap and the list is incomplete. It needs to be elaborated. As land users, we tend to take an interest in the environmental consequences of our neighbours' activities and to resent questions about our own actions. We are aggrieved when public goods are damaged and delighted when the supply is augmented. If damage is unavoidable, we expect compensatory measures. Environmental compensation, delivered at the point of impact, is economically more efficient than financial compensation. It goes to the people who have suffered a loss. We should, by asking questions, audit the impact of development projects on public goods:
when a land owner applies for planning permission, a building license or authorization from an environmental quality regulator,
when public money is to be spent on a project: so that society can obtain the maximum social benefit and the minimum social cost,
The questions can be used to carry out a public goods audit of proposed development projects.
