Managing land-use change

The management of land-use change has been achieved in Britain through the development control system. Set up in its modern form in 1947, the system has remained substantially unchanged in spite of a radically altered policy environment. This paper considers the nature of the system and notes both its robustness and its flexibility as well as the accusations of delay and uncertainty that are levelled at it. It considers the drivers for change which are likely to affect the system, and in particular the challenge of climate change, the rights of third parties, the question of major infrastructure projects, and the desire for neighbourhood protection. The paper concludes by asserting that there is a need to refocus the debate on the quality of outcomes rather than on the process.