Agenda 21 in New Zealand: Not Dead, Just Resting

Despite introducing ground-breaking environmental legislation in 1991 and supporting the theory of sustainable development, New Zealand has not promoted the process at a practical level. As a result, only a few New Zealand city and district councils have tried to adopt a Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) as a ‘blueprint’ for sustainable development. This article summarises the efforts of seven New Zealand district or city councils that have done so. It goes on to review the pros and cons of adopting LA 21 and concludes that while there is now renewed interest in sustainable development and LA 21 nationally, New Zealand must adopt these processes cautiously.

[1]  F. Williams,et al.  Healthy cities , 1988, The Lancet.

[2]  David Pearce,et al.  Economics and Environment: Essays on Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development , 1999 .

[3]  Chasca Twyman,et al.  Sharing the World: Sustainable Living and Global Equity in the 21st Century; , 2000 .

[4]  Claudia Gallikowski.  Agenda 21 , 1999 .

[5]  E. Weiss.  United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , 1992, International Legal Materials.

[6]  J. Tinker,et al.  Reconciling ecological, economic and social imperatives , 1998 .

[7]  Mathis Wackernagel,et al.  Ecological footprints of nations. How much nature do they use? How much nature do they have? , 1997 .

[8]  S. Holtz.  Integrating environmental, social, and economic policies , 1998 .

[9]  Mark Roseland,et al.  Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments , 1992 .

[10]  D. Satterthwaite.  The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities , 1999 .

[11]  W. Rees.  Achieving Sustainability: Reform or Transformation? , 1995, The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities.

[12]  C. Pugh,et al.  Sustainability the Environment and Urbanisation , 1996 .

[13]  Jeb Brugmann,et al.  Is there a method in our measurement? The use of indicators in local sustainable development planning , 1997 .

[14]  Claire Freeman,et al.  Local Government and Emerging Models of Participation in the Local Agenda 21 Process , 1996 .

[15]  Peter Marcuse,et al.  Sustainability is not enough , 1998 .

[16]  Janne Hukkinen,et al.  Institutions in Environmental Management: Constructing Mental Models and Sustainability , 1998 .

[17]  Lorinda R. Rowledge,et al.  Mapping the Journey: Case Studies in Strategy and Action toward Sustainable Development , 1999 .

[18]  D. Mercer,et al.  Local Agenda 21 and Barriers to Sustainability at the Local Government Level in Victoria, Australia , 2000 .

[19]  David Pearce,et al.  Measuring sustainable development: progress on indicators , 1996, Environment and Development Economics.

[20]  Richard Hales,et al.  Land Use Development Planning and the Notion of Sustainable Development: Exploring Constraint and Facilitation within the English Planning System , 2000 .

[21]  T. Trzyna.  A sustainable world: defining and measuring sustainable development. , 1996 .

[22]  D. Pearce,et al.  Capital theory and the measurement of sustainable development: an indicator of “weak” sustainability , 1993 .

[23]  P. Healey.  Collaborative Planning: Shaping Places in Fragmented Societies , 1997 .

[24]  B. Velásquez,et al.  Agenda 21; a form of joint environmental management in Manizales, Colombia , 1998 .

[25]  T. Friedman.  The Lexus and the Olive Tree , 1999 .