ABSTRACT
At first sight Northern Ireland may seem a strange place in which to find a collaborative, inclusive and discussion-driven approach to strategic spatial planning. Over the past 30 years bureaucratic government has overseen policy formulation and implementation processes on behalf of a society marked by deeply contested histories and cultures, bitter sectarian violence and endless constitutional wrangling. But daunting as those circumstances have been, recent process related innovation within the sphere of physical planning has been able to harness the enthusiasm of locally elected representatives and the energy of an emergent associational sector in the shaping of a new regional framework for economic and social development and environmental stewardship. This chapter is concerned with an analysis of that experience.
