- Toward sustainable climate change adaptation planning and implementation for low carbon cities in small island states of the Caribbean: Resolving the dilemma through a people-centred integrated planning process and institutional framework (St Lucia Case)   293 kb by    Morris, Marlyn | docmmorris@gmail.com    Short Outline This paper calls for a participatory and integrative planning paradigm, and an institutional and legislative framework that promotes the sustainable planning, design and delivery of low carbon cities in the Eastern Caribbean. Abstract The continued concern for environmental destruction and the wanton depletion of natural resources, the depletion of the ozone layer and resultant global warming and the deleterious consequences of climate change and sea level rise, particularly for low-lying countries and small island states, have heighten the call for sustainable development and sustainable landuse planning, supported by appropriate institutional and legislative framework . In addition to this countries must now also work towards ensuring policies and action strategies for maintaining low carbon cities aimed at reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions and promoting sustainable liveable cities for all households. However, there seems to be a constant dilemma for planning systems, in deriving a consensus regarding the socially acceptable minimum interventions due to the varying and competing national interests , preferences of private individuals and private enterprises over the so called “public interest” with respect to resource use, for financial and material prosperity and social wellbeing and the varying development agendas, over the allocation and use of national, social, economic and natural resource , whether in private and public ownership. This paper focuses on Small island States of the Eastern Caribbean and posits that the top-down planning tradition will not ensure the resolution of these issues and the realisation of the objective of planning, designing and implementing low carbon cities in small island states. This calls for a shift in the current planning paradigm, to one that’s integrative and participatory, involving all competing stakeholder groups working within an institutional and legislative framework that promotes harnessing of development resources through a collaborative partnership in planning and development among the public , private and civil society sectors; participatory planning; participatory democracy; community governance and management. It provides a framework and recommendations for sustainable land use planning for low carbon cities within the context of the Small Island States of the Eastern Caribbean. Keywords sustanable landuse planning Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2009: Low Carbon Cities   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper