Group Processes and the Social Construction of Growth Management: Florida, Vermont, and New Jersey

Abstract

Consensual groups are playing a growing role in planning. This article looks at the group processes that have played key roles in state growth management programs in Florida, Vermont, and New Jersey. The groups have been involved in problem framing, policy development, policy oversight and review, negotiations among competing interests, and developing procedures for accomplishing complex new tasks. The group processes have succeeded in developing shared meaning, coordinating among agencies and levels of government, and often in reaching consensus among players. But they have been only partially successful, at this stage. The next challenge is to redesign planning and decision making institutions to incorporate group processes in a way that makes effective use of what they accomplish.