...community The purpose of constructing a conceptual framework is to understand how urban societies deal with tensions caused by land-use or site selection projects, in particular by encouraging citizen participation, negotiating solutions and considering planning practices. The framework should be constructed in a way that permits the NIMBY syndrome effect to be assessed. Using Montreal as an example, a short test is conducted to illustrate the scope of the proposed framework and demonstrate the soundness of the positive account given to land-use planning and environmental disputes.

Keywords: NIMBY, land-use planning and environmental disputes, quality of life, healthy communities, collaborative planning

Resume

Le present article cherche a degager differentes approches du syndrome NIMBY a partir d'une revue des ecrits. En combinant diverses lectures du syndrome NIMBY, l'article soutient une interpretation positive du NIMBY et propose d'en mesurer les effets sur la sante des collectivites. Plus precisement, il vise a developper un cadre conceptuel synthetique permettant de comprendre comment les societes urbaines tentent de repondre aux tensions suscitees par les projets d'amenagement ou de localisation, notamment en favorisant la participation des citoyens, en negociant des solutions et finalement en engageant des reflexions sur les pratiques de planification. Ce cadre conceptuel doit permettre de mesurer l'effet du syndrome NIMBY. Un court test, realise en prenant lecas de Montreal, demontre le potentiel du cadre conceptuel propose et atteste de la justesse de l'interpretation positive donnee aux controverses d'amenagement et d'environnement.

Mots cles : NIMBY, controverses d'amenagement et d'environnement, qualite de vie, sante des collectivites, planification concertee

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Often defined as NIMBY (not in my back yard), land-use and environmental disputes in the past twenty years or so have intensified to the extent that the public is more aware of current urban land-use planning practices. Projects involving the siting of facilities, services or activities are hence subject to criticism and put before concerned citizens and various lobby and grassroots groups (Popper 1981, 1987, 1992; Armour 1992; Inhaber 1992; Lake 1993). Discussions about the NIMBY syndrome in the literature emphasise two main points, namely that the community is an everyday lived environment and that citizen participation in its future is vital. In fact, NIMBY is about defending life surroundings or the neighbourhood environment, therefore making site proximity a primary factor in understanding the NIMBY phenomenon (Furuseth and Callaghan 1991; Dear 1992). A positive slant on NIMBY has a bearing on the work conducted by social science researchers interested in understanding the development of collective action at the local association or neighbourhood levels. This paper reviews this literature with the intention of examining how the impacts of the NIMBY syndrome are measured. It also considers whether social practices are expressed and are conducive to quality of life and to the health of communities. In other words, is the NIMBY syndrome compatible with the Healthy Community approaches?

This paper provides an opportunity to examine aspects of NIMBY that are seldom brought to light in the literature, namely the connection between urban quality of life and the debate about risks or environmental stress due to proximity. NIMBY is understood to be an expression of a social demand for a healthy environment and quality surroundings. This paper has a three-fold objective. The first is to deepen our understanding of the NIMBY syndrome. The second is to see what approach can be used in land development and environmental disputes in relation to Healthy Community proposals. The third consists in proposing an analytical tool that can be used to measure the effects of such disputes on community health.

I. Rethinking NIMBY syndrome

The understanding of NIMBY syndrome is indeed contingent on a cross-analysis of the following two distinct elements: residents vie to preserve their environment in the name of community spirit, and consultation and negotiation processes are co-ordinated in order to upgrade projects (Dorius 1993). This approach highlights one of the omnipresent but understudied positive aspects linked to the NIMBY syndrome, which can be defined as the response to the social demand for quality oflife or for a healthy environment, and for high-quality neighbourhoods (1) (Senecal 2001). Moreover, conflict-driven protagonists will generally justify taking action by claiming that their quality of life or their health is threatened in some way by a project. In short, the accusations made concerning their selfishness and the arguments pertaining to generalized distrust have hidden deeper reasons from view. In light of this, the negative image commonly associated with the NIMBY syndrome is misleading.

There is another side to NIMBY-type reactions: they demonstrate, on the one hand, how intense community activism is (Botes and van Rensburg 2000; Dong Soo 2000), and on the other, the ability of citizens to defend their environment in a systematic and well-documented way (Smith, Michaud and Carlisle 2004). Similarly, the communicational turn in planning proposes to take advantage of citizens' determination to participate in developing solutions to problems arising from projects that pose a potential threat or risk. Conflicts around land-use uncover latent problems that society must resolve by mobilising residents to address them (Forester 1989; Healey 2003). By allowing for confrontation and the expression of particular interests, disputes, furthermore, act as public spaces for deliberation. They encourage the expression of values and of discourses in public meetings, which Robert Beauregard refers to as deliberative democracy (Beauregard 2003). Through stories and storytelling, residents are asked to convey ways to take action and face change (Sandercock 2003). Disputes can therefore help translate perceptions and intentions and build partnerships between various civil society members and between them and government bodies. Out of such partnerships expertise is acquired and texts and projects are drafted requiring professional knowledge and skills (Fisher 2000). This positive view of land-use and environmental disputes is also embraced by francophone sociologists and geographers who read in such disputes opportunities for learning and exploring potential changes (Remy and Voye 1992; Blanc 1994; Mormont 1994; Storie 1996; Callon et al. 2001; Senecal 2004; Cahiers de Geographie du Quebec 2005; Senecal and Harou 2005), or even for democratic life to grow richer (Lolive and Turcot 2001). Support for such a positive interpretation is found in approaches that focus on the impacts of the risk society (Beck 1986) on communities and organisations, and in those that examine forms of participatory democracy and their effects on peoples' lives. Often associated to the NIMBY syndrome, disputes in land-use planning and the environment filter into a host of theoretical approaches where conflict is seen as a process of social change. Their anticipated effects concern both collective learning, including what is gained from citizen participation, and empowerment. They can also be inscribed in the built and living environments, especially by reducing social inequalities and local stress (Table 1).

The question we can ask ourselves at this point is whether this positive interpretation is consistent with notions of the sustainable community found in the literature, especially those that focus more on quality of life. It can seem...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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