Collaborative planning through complex networks : a case study of developing a four-pillar approach to drug misuse problems in Vancouver

This thesis is concerned with the contribution of collaborative modes of urban planning to overcoming conflict in shared space.Throughout the 1990's, a conflict developed in the City of Vancouver around serious drug problems that emerged primarily in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.In 1993, drug overdose deaths in the city peaked at20l, providing a window into the severity of the crisis.Throughout the city appropriate responses were hotly debated.The planning processes used to facilitate that debate and, to some extent, overcome conflict are the focus of this study.While conflict over drug policy still exists in Vancouver, planning activities both within the state and in civil society culminated in 2001 in the adoption and initial implementation ofl Four-Pillar Approach to drug problems.This thesis primarily addresses the following question: How did collaborative modes of urban planning contribute to the successful development and initial implementation of afour-pillar approach to drug misuse issues in Vancouver?The recent literature on collaborative planning is examined and an argument is put forward for a complex network approach.This approach suggests that the main contribution of collaborative planning is the ability to create networks of stakeholders across societal and cultural boundaries.A detailed case study of drug policy planning in Vancouver is then undertaken.The case study identifies the key actors, arenas and processes that contributed to community learning and mobilization around drug policy issues.The results of the case study are analyzed in reference to the collaborative planning theory developed in this thesis.Recent collaborative planning theory has refocused attention from the production of plans to the creation of networks through which ongoing planning activity can take place.The creation of these networks involves the building of institutional capital.Where a large stock of institutional capital exists, knowledge and understanding can be shared easily throughout the network, and collective decisions can be acted on relatively quickly (Healey, 1998).This research addresses the creation of institutional capital through a network approach to collaborative planning processes around drug misuse issues in the City of Vancouver. Problem StatementAt the beginning of this new century, planning is facing many difficult challenges.Since the 1950's, planners have operated on the assumption that with the proper application of theory and social scientific methods, we could understand and control the systems in which we work.The outcomes of interventions were foreseeable.Half a century of application of this "rational model" in practice has demonstrated the fallacy of that assumption (Sandercock, I 998).The changing societal context of planning work is emphasizing the weakness of the rational model.Globalization is shifting the policy spotlight to local levels of government as central governments decline in importance.The movement of capital, goods and people is also forcing cities to compete directly for attention in the global market.Simultaneously, the (re) emergence of previously silenced voices, those of people of colour, post-colonial people and recent immigrants, is placing a strain on local governance and planning systems (Sandercock, 1998).Planners now face people who approach problems from very different cultural reference points in their everyday lives.Local governments and planners are expected to promote economic development while providing increased social services in addressing the needs ofan increasingly diverse population.It is now recognized that planners and governments cannot meet these challenges alone.Collaborative planning emerged in response to theoretical challenges to the rational model and the changing societal context of planning work.The collaborative model focuses on interaction between citizens in order to reach shared understanding and enable collective action.Recent collaborative theory has shifted the focus of planning How did collaborative modes of urban planning contribute to the successful development and initial implementation of afour-pillar approach to drug misuse issues in Vancouver?This question is a focal point of the study and is answered initially through a review of coilaborative planning theory.The nature of that theory leads the researcher to several further questions: How do collaborative planning techniques contribute to learning in and across diverse social and policy networks?What is the role of institutional capital, understood as the social networks, shared knowledge and mobilization capacity in a place, in the success of collaborative efforts?These questions will be addressed through the case study of the range of planning activities that contributed to the development of drug policy and strategy in the City of Vancouver.Several key questions guide this case study: How were stakeholders involved in the development of a drug policy and strategy in the City of Vancouver?Through what arenas and processes was a network of stakeholders built around issues of drug problems in Vancouver?To what extent and through what processes was institutional capital created?What role did informal networks and direct action play in the development of the fo ur-p í I I ar app r o a c h? 1.4 Scope of the StudyThe scope of the case study is not limited to an evaluation of one deliberative forum, or to one spatial unit such as the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.Rather, the study attempts to capture the range of planning activities, both formal and informal, which contributed to the current direction for policy development and action on drug misuse issues.I2 1.5The scope of the case study will be defined by specific time boundaries.The "crisis" of drug misuse in Vancouver was recognized as early as 1994 and background is provided from that year forward.However, the Cify did not begin to work towards a concerted response until I 997 .That year is taken as the beginning of the case study.In 2001, the City passed the policy document titledA Frameworkfor Action: A Four Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver.lnthesame year, the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board (V/RHB)' received approval to implement several health focused responsesto drug problems centered in the Downtown Eastside.While conflict over drug misuse issues still exists, these policies and projects represent major achievements.These achievements, and their direct spin-offs, will be considered the end of the case study. Research MethodsThis thesis employs a descriptive case study method of empirical research.According to Yin, "the distinctive need for case studies arises out of the desire to understand complex social phenomena" (Yin, 1984,I4).This method is best suited to answering questions of "how" and "why''about contemporary events.Case sfudies also allow the research to draw on many sources of data in answering these questions (Yin, te84).The development of a response to Vancouver's drug problem certainly qualifies as a complex social phenomenon.The empirical research used in this case study draws on two sources of data.First, documentary research is used.Documents are primarily used in case study research to corroborate evidence gathered from other sources.However, if I The Vancouver/Richmond Health Board became Vancouver Coastal Health Authority in 2001.For the purposes of this study, it is consistently addressed as the VancouverlRichmond Health Boa¡d.and it is the planners, community workers and community leaders directly involved in those processes that are best suited to provide the most relevant information.Several key informants were extremely prominent in the development of afour-pillar approach in Vancouver and were easily selected.Through initial documentary research, the researcher then identified important categories of participants and attempted to select key informants from among those categories.The categories included land use planners, social planners, front line workers, business leaders, police officers, the Chinatown community, youth organizations, Aboriginal organizations and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).The researcher successfully identified key informants in each of these categories with the exception of the Chinatown community.Two key Chinese community organizations either refused interviews or could not be contacted.Key informants were assigned codes based on the sector they represent.This code will be used in citing information from key informants throughout the study.The key informants are listed below by sector and code: 1.7 Outline of the Thesis This thesis explores the application of a complex networks approach to collaborative planning to the development of a policy response to drug misuse issues in Vancouver.Chapter 2 provides an overview of the collaborative planning literature.En route to developing a case for a complex networks approach, the theoretical underpinnings of collaborative planning are presented.Chapter 3 presents a detailed case study of emerging drug problems and planning activities around drug misuse issues in Vancouver.The case study is approximately chronological and stretches from 1993 to 2002, a nine year period.Chapter 4 provides an analysis of the case study grounded in the theory developed in Chapter 2. Chapter 5 synthesizes the research findings, and presents conclusions and areas for further research.

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