Developing indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the UK land use planning system

There has been growing interest in evaluating the performance and outcomes of the land use planning system. Developing effectiveness indicators can be seen as a starting point in this process evaluation. A pilot study was undertaken by the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge to establish the general principles that should be used to develop effectiveness indicators. This paper concentrates on the conceptual difficulties in devising a methodology to assess whether the land use planning system has achieved its objectives. After some background on the growing use of indicators in policy evaluation, it sets out the stages used in the research for producing indicators. Through the use of illustrations, it demonstrates the way that different conceptual issues can be addressed. It concludes by examining the key lessons from the research.