A critical review of a managerial approach to 'green' community planning in the rural USA and the Netherlands

Does the contemporary managerial approach in policy support 'green' community planning in rural areas? This question is addressed using the Policy Arrangements Approach (PAA). When PAA was applied to rural policy in the USA and the Netherlands, we observed an increasing effect of a managerial approach in both countries over the last 10-15 years, including the use of performance contracts and evaluation tools and the promotion of self-sufficiency and public entrepreneurship at the community level. In this paper we discuss how this managerial approach affected green community planning in rural areas in the USA and the Netherlands. Community planning is analysed using four dimensions: discourse; actor coalitions; resources and power; and rules of the game. Our analysis demonstrates that the managerial approach reinforces state power and puts efforts to address the higher-order 'green' needs of a community at risk. Different approaches for creating opportunities which encourage the emergence of public leadership, as well as new institutional designs, are required.