In many ways, this desire to retain a healthy measure of local control is a constructive impulse. Local control is, after all, much more consistent with the decentralization required by demand management. Collaborative planning as a concept also applies within communities. The strategies of infill, densification and mixed use that promote environmental objectives are difficult to achieve with traditional planning approaches. Developers see too much risk.
Neighborhoods oppose reflexively.
Such strategies are best implemented through proactive collaborative planning. Cities facilitate developer and neighborhood participation in planning efforts that define what can serve everyone's interests. The whole is often greater than the sum of the parts. The concepts of demand management, partnerships, democratic participation, incentives, empowerment, and collaborative planning are clearly overlapping and mutually reinforcing. Together, they represent a new paradigm for local government leadership and management.