Sustainable community planning: Challenges and opportunities for the Comox Valley

Many Canadian communities are experiencing increasing growth and its subsequent development pressures. While it is important to recognize that growth and development are inevitable, it is equally important to have responsible and proactive planning in place. The Comox Valley is one such community that has to make important decisions regarding sustainability and planning. Local governments need to explore a more integrated approach to planning using sustainability principles: integrating the economic, social and ecological considerations of the community into planning goals and strategies.;This research uses the sustainability principles as a framework to define sustainable community and sustainable community planning. Using the Comox Valley as a case study, this research identifies challenges and opportunities for the Comox Valley in incorporating sustainability into community planning. Recommendations are made to better enable Comox Valley decision-makers to overcome identified challenges and realize identified opportunities for achieving sustainability in community planning for the Comox Valley.