ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some of the developments that are taking place within the social sciences as they concern themselves with environmental planning. It discusses the emergence and role of social impact assessment in environmental planning, the identification of payoffs and tradeoffs in the planning process, decision-making strategies currently in use and the role of the social scientist in environmental planning. The fact that Social Impact Statements are being generated along with Environmental Impact Statements is having profound implications upon local or regional projects of development by adding a completely new and distinctive dimension to the planning process. The main goal of Social Impact Assessment is to provide information to decision-makers but this information has to be coupled with technical and scientific information. Tradeoffs and payoffs can be portrayed by the different kinds of analysis or decision-making tools that are being utilized within the area of impact studies.
