Citizens Participation and the New Environmentalism

Citizen participation within the new environmentalism movement is having a profound impact on planning strategies. The new environmentalism movement has shifted the citizen participation debate from the urban planning to the regional planning sector. The new environmentalism debate is calling for a new system of recognition of the consequences on the environment by regional development strategies. Traditionally, consequences of development strategies within the urban planning sector have been met with land-use zoning. The use of land-use zoning as an urban planning tool has been delegated to localities by states under the guise of public health. The regional citizens participation debate is calling for a concomitant movement that gave the urban planning sector land-use zoning. To provide the regional planning sector with a similar planning tool, such as land-use zoning, it will be necessary to restore some of the delegated powers of the states.