ABSTRACT
In describing the French and British systems of development control, and in setting them in the context of practice in Europe, the USA and Hong Kong, the question of certainty has recurred constantly. In a sense this is perhaps hardly surprising, since planning by its very nature is about trying to predict future patterns of land use and development. Nevertheless, the ways in which the planning systems described deal with the question of certainty seem very different. France, we noted, appears to place a high premium upon certainty above all else, and the certainty in question is that of outcome, that anyone involved in the development process may know in advance what is, and what is not, permissible. Britain, on the other hand, appears to have no such concern and has instead sought to ensure that its system is flexible rather than certain. Yet even in Britain the question of certainty has never been far from the surface. Part of the debate, as in France, is about certainty of outcome; but lurking behind the debate on delay seems to be an issue of certainty of process, of knowing when you can expect a decision as well as what that decision will be. An initial question is, therefore, that of how the French and British systems of development control deal with certainty. To that, however, must be added others. What kind of certainty do in fact these two systems manage to deliver? And secondly, to what extent to the different actors in the development process require certainty in the control process?
