Trust and Collaborative Planning Theory: The Case of the Scottish Planning System

The chief objective of this paper is to introduce trust as a new component of the collaborative planning theory and discuss its significance in respect of the newly introduced joint structure plan-making system in Scotland. To achieve this, we briefly discuss the main components of collaborative planning theory in the second section as its main protagonists have comprehensively discussed these aspects of collaborative planning theory elsewhere. Then we develop the indicators of trust in the third section. The fourth section outlines the newly introduced system of joint structure plan making in Scotland. It is in the fifth section that the trust indicators are applied to the system of joint structure plan making in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, Scotland. The last section sums up the main conclusions. A new system of joint structure plan making was introduced in Scotland after the reorganization of local government in 1995. While this system exhibits some traces of collaborative planning, indications are that this joint arrangement could develop into a high trust partnership among the stakeholders involved jointly in the production of structure plans. Most of the trust indicators developed in this paper show positive results when applied to the case study. The stakeholders expect that high trust will result in better understanding among them leading to sustained collaboration. It is expected that as collaboration matures, trust will further develop. We have thus argued that both trust and collaboration reinforce each other. Collaboration is understood as willingness to work together to attain shared objectives through formalized horizontal organizational arrangements.

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