Environmental regulation

How should the public intervene in design decisions?

There are three main approaches to the environmental regulation of development in a liberal democracy:

• -by means of zoning and land use plans. This approach works from the general to the particular.
• -by means of environmental impact assessment and control. This approach works from the particular to the general.
• -by a combination of zoning with environmental assessment. This is the best approach.

In many countries, zoning and EA have different legislative origins and r ema in separate. Zoning and land use planning derive from a positive wish to show where and how future development should take place. EA comes from a negative fear that development is likely to destroy environmental quality. Zoning looks to the future; EA looks to the past. Ahern describes them as 'offensive' and 'defensive' strategies (Ahern, 1995) Both are necessary.