Community-led planning? The case of Dundee

The potential of community-led planning has been demonstrated in the recent practice of land use planning in many areas of the UK. While this has been encouraged to a degree by central government, particularly in terms of facilitating viable partnerships between agents in the development process, the specific role of individual authorities has also been significant in many cases. Since the 1980s, the City of Dundee has progressed a series of initiatives that have involved the community directly in issues related to land use planning. These include the Council's participation in the Whitfield Partnership, which was one of the Government's four 'New Life' Partnerships; the preparation of a district-wide local plan for the City, which prioritised the involvement of local people through the creation of a series of community and business fora; and most recently, the preparation of a regeneration strategy for Urban Programme funding, which has been developed in close collaboration with the local community. Dundee has adopted a learning approach to community involvement in land use planning, adjusting basic principles, attitudes and approaches in the light of experience, and as a result some interesting lessons can be drawn to inform practice elsewhere.