Sustainable Development and Structure Plans in England and Wales: A Review of Current Practice

In response to a lack of evaluative research into the application of the concept of sustainable development to development plans in England and Wales, an investigation is undertaken using the media of county council structure plans. A framework is devised for measuring the performance of structure plans against key themes and principles of sustainable development,relevant policy areas and procedures. The extent to which structure plans manage to make the concept operational is shown to be variable, with better performing plans illustrating a geographical and temporal bias. It is concluded that, whilst there is an awareness about sustainable development amongst county councils, the translation of this awareness into practice is, in many cases, proving difficult.