Cities affect and are affected by climate change. Local land use comprehensive plans have an essential role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. The study addresses two critical research questions: 1) How well do the fastest growing cities in the U.S. implement the low-carbon principles...

Community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) is increasingly perceived as a bottom-up alternative approach to the traditional top-down rational model of local environmental conservation planning. Although many studies have discussed the effectiveness of these two models in environmental...

Recent severe drought events across the nation have raised our concerns over society’s changing and increasing vulnerability to droughts. All levels of governments have taken actions to plan for the slow-onset, long-lasting and spatially extensive drought hazard. The progress of drought...

The major planning theories provide a theoretical foundation for environmental planning. This study extends the major planning theories and develops a robust conceptual framework to measure the key factors influencing local environmental-plan quality. A random sample of forty Californian local...

Floods, the most common natural hazard in the world, cause serious loss in terms of lives, buildings, and infrastructures. As a consequence, the need for flood risk assessment has become critical. Using a semi-quantitative model and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) weighting approach,...

Climate change is conventionally recognised as a large-scale issue resolved through regional or national policy initiatives. However, little research has been done to directly evaluate local climate change action plans. This study examines 40 recently adopted local climate change action plans in...

State mandates and guidelines significantly influence local land use planning; however few studies have been conducted to empirically detect the gaps in sustainable environmental planning between the state and local jurisdictions. This paper analyses the California Governor's Environmental Goals...

There is an increasing demand for environmental leadership in the planning process. In collaborative planning models, planners have a distinct role as a bridge between citizens, politicians, and scientists. However, there is limited research evaluating the leadership role of planners in the...