A Brief Analysis of Strategic Environmental Assessment and Its Application in Spatial Planning

Abstract:With the acceleration of urbanization,cities are facing increasingly severe problems of environment,population and energy.To solve the above issues,planners need to organize and employ urban space and allocate all kinds of energy from a higher perspective.The integration of strategic environmental assessment into spatial planning is to take it as a whole-process assessment tool and implement the idea of environmental impact to the source of spatial planning,so as to fully reduce the impact of planning projects to the environment.At the same time,SEA can track and evaluate each key step of the planning project and make corresponding and more reasonable adjustments to the unfinished steps.

Key words:SEA(Strategic Environmental Assessment);Spatial planning;Sustainable development;Public participation

1 Introduction

According to the demonstration of Camila Ween[1]in the Future Cities,the future cities will confront two major issues.‘One is the growth of the world population that is rapidly migrating from the countryside to cities,the second is that cities are massive consumers of energy'.The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) likewise mentioned that the 21st century is facing the greatest threats of the climate change and the demographic changes[2].While confronting these challenges,for the planners and the decision makers,there is an urgent need to pay significant attention to various questions,for example,how to utilize the land in an organized manner,how the various energy sources should be allocated,and how to exceptionally make a decision at the initial stage of planning and designing.

In view of this,the spatial planning,one may say,is the resource coordination and union,which considers all the perspectives of the urban development with the specific end goal to develop something that really upgrades the local development and advances the maintainability[3].In the meantime,the planners are concentrating beyond the individual policies and decisions and are doing the exhaustive investigations and balance to lead to an extensive and long-term perspective of the development,with the specific end goal to make the urban development significantly practical (RTPI)[4].Consequently,the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) emerged as the requirement of the time,assisting ion incorporating the environmental considerations into plans and projects,keeping in mind the end goal to guarantee that the planned projects and the SEA directives will promote the sustainable development of the cities[5].

This article will make a comprehension and examination of the SEA from various perspectives,for example,the procedures of the SEA,the basis to apply the SEA in spatial planning and the strengths and shortcomings of SEA.

2 Definitions and Processes

2.1 The Definition of SEA

As demonstrated by Thomas B.Fischer[6],the SEA contains three fundamental meanings.The first one is that the ‘SEA is a systematic,objectives-led,evidence-based,proactive and participative decisionmaking support process for the formulation of sustainable policies,plans and programmes (PPP),leading to improved governance.' The SEA could likewise be viewed as an arrangement,plan,program,and project applying the suitable strategies and methodologies for the increment of the logical thoroughness while making decision for the projects.The third meaning is that the ‘SEA is a systematic decision-making framework,establishing a substantive focus,particularly in terms of alternatives and aspects to be considered,depending on the systematic tier (policy,plan or programme),administrative level (national,regional,local) and sector of application'.

Generally,the SEA is an appraisal instrument before planning and implementing the design.It is an activity appraisal that utilizes evaluation outcomes to impact the final decision-making[7].The essence of SEA is that it can extend the aftereffects of the projects in the conventional natural effect evaluation with the specific end goal to persistently extend the infiltration of the ideas in the sustainable development methodologies and adequately upgrade its level of advancement.

2.2 The Processes of SEA

According to the demonstration of Fischer[8]and Sadler[9],‘the SEA literature has identified two main types of SEA processes'.One is the EIA-based SEA,and the second one is the flexible non-EIA-based SEA which significantly works out for the policies and the cabinet decision making.The six fundamental assessment processes involving the EIA-based SEA are ‘screening,scoping,preparing an environmental statement,making a planning application and consultation,the decision-making',and monitoring and follow-up.

（1）The objective of the screening phase is to consider that whether the the application of SEA is necessary or not[6].Generally,it begins at the initial stages of the project,however,it could be additionally planned halfway through the project for deciding whether it is within the scope of its mandate and whether it is going to significantly impact the nature.

（2）At the scoping phase,the fundamental assignment is to think about the degree of problems and decide the gauge,goals,and the targets.

（3）The preparation of an environmental statement,is an imperative stage amid the appraisal procedure.The applicants should set up the conforming assessment frameworks and recognize the development information that might influence the environment significantly,and accumulated on the premise of the information provided by the public sector.

（4）Amid the arrangement of the application and consultation,the environmental declarations should demonstrate the statutory advisory body to the general public,while providing the public with an opportunity to voice their opinions on regional planning development and the environmental influence.

（5）At the stage of decision-making,the decision makers should measure the problems of the economy,the general public,and the environmental impacts.In the meantime,every decision on the environmental declarations,including whether they agree with the development of the project,which should be considered by the local planning authorities and the secretaries,and afterwards disclose the decision and the reasons behind the decision to the general public.

（6）Amid the phase of monitoring and follow-up,the ‘SEA should be used as a proactive environmental management instrument'.It should reach past the decision-making phase establishing the relationship between the circumstances and the outcomes,yet,this may be difficult to accomplish because of the theoretical nature and the time gap for the project completion[10].

It is extremely hard to set up an incorporated approach because of various levels,scales,and qualities during the time spent on the SEA,yet building up a coordinated procedure is moderately clear and basic.In the meantime,the strategies and techniques of SEA ought to be in consistent with the goals and be helpful for the maintainable improvement,coordination,straightforwardness,low cost,importance,and practicability.

3 Rationale for Applying SEA in Spatial Planning

The SEA can help in the increment of the awareness for the reduction of the negative influence and the enhancement of the potential of space-related planning for the positive environmental effects related to the implementation[11].In the meantime,the connection between the spatial planning and the SEA is considered as a premise for the improvement that is worthy and a critical opportunity for executing the maintainable advancement approach in the decisionmaking process.Spatial planning is a standout method among the most significantly utilized areas for the environmental assessment as it might be the least complex area for the execution of a wide range of SEA[12].Various reasons behind the utilization of the SEA in the spatial planning are listed below.

（1）There is a more grounded need to express the strategic environmental thinking in PPP improvement.Because of the absence of thought of natural issues in the past PPP making,the experts suggested to incorporate the SEA in it[13-14].Currently,numerous nations have effectively connected the SEA to spatial planning and design,which enhances the decision-makers' strategic environmental thinking.In the meantime,the SEA concentrates on how the natural contemplation is considered in the decision-making process as opposed to evaluating the ecological effect of the projects after the decision-making phase,avoiding the delays in the implementation.The SEA encourages the early thought of environmental effects,the audit of more extensive potential choices,the capability of alleviation measures,and the more extensive ramifications.The SEA actualizes the idea of the environmental effects at the wellspring of spatial planning to generously lessen the environmental effects of the planned projects.

（2）Further thinking is required for the decision-making[6].As opposed to giving the prescient strategies and techniques for the environmental assessment,the SEA can provide with a precise decision-making structure for the tasks and the decision-makers at various levels[15],for the execution of the genuinely eco-friendly strategic decision making.The SEA can enable the policymakers to address the diverse issues and guide them to settle on more successful and objective choices.It can likewise assess the potential effects of vital choices and action plans on the environment and the well-being of human.However,without SEA,the powerlessness of the planners to completely comprehend the present condition of the environment can prompt the inadequate environmental considerations in the planning area,which is additionally significantly unfavourable for the manageability of the development.

（3）There is a need for more successful decision-making.The SEA can distinguish issues ahead of the schedule in the spatially planned project and proactively address these issues that could affect the environment later on.In the meantime,the SEA can not only analyse the adverse environmental aspects of the planned projects,but also feature the project's favorable conditions and provide with the more effective decision-making plans.The SEA can produce consistency and similarity among the objectives,techniques,and approaches of a given plan,emphasizing the potential linkages,clashes,and connections[16].In addition,the SEA can distinguish the issues that should be observed amid the execution of the plan.

（4）There is a need to better support the good governance and supportable improvement in the decision-making.The SEA not just expands the environmental quality of arranging the strategies yet additionally increases the awareness regarding the environmental effects,while the SEA can educate the stakeholders of the environmental effects of strategic decisions[16].The SEA can enhance the green image of the planning department.In the meantime,the planners should take natural and other supporting objectives together and examine a wide range of data with the specific end goal to settle on the wise choices.

（5）As demonstrated by Thomas B.Fischer,the procedures of the SEA can compare the procedures of the spatial planning and programme making,follow-up evaluation at every fundamental step in planning a project,make the corresponding more reasonable adjustments to the unfinished steps.

4 Strengths and Weaknesses

4.1 Strengths

（1）SEA is a tool that can achieve the environmental,social and economic sustainability.As compared to the previous environmental assessment tools,the SEA considers more extensive angles than vital evaluation of a single planning project but instead consolidates the general objectives of regional development with the national development policies and measures the key effects of numerous variables of the environmental assessment.

（2）The SEA successfully enhances the environmental contemplation in the PPP.It provides valuable data to the policymakers,as well as changes the public's perception of environmental protection through public interest while adjusting a portion of the more settled evaluation schedule.It is more compelling and efficient and enables the senior staff to undertake more systematic decision-making.

（3）The SEA is a proactive assessment tool that can provide strategic help for the regional maintainability.It precisely surveys and aces the effects of the development of the project on the environment and makes the perfect arrangement.In the meantime,the SEA enhances the decision-making efficiency,illuminating the correct issues at the perfect timing and decreases the cost of the evaluation.

4.2 Weaknesses

（1）Due to the differences in evaluation objectives and the evaluation purposes,it is hard to distinguish a consistent evaluation structure and only comparable appraisal procedures can be recognized.Existing strategies for the SEA have constraints,data required for appraisal,and the absence of the qualified and experienced specialists.These constraints may turn the viable incorporation of SEA strategies into practice.

（2）As demonstrated by Carlo Rega[17],albeit public participation is a remarkable component of the SEA and is superior to other assessments.However,up till now,the public participation in the SEA practice is significantly limited,and public opinions have exceptionally restricted the effects on the decision-making.This is due to the absence of public understanding of the SEA assessment process and the lack of information.

（3）Although some SEAs contain itemized and quantitative projections of the effects,there is an unmistakable thought of the degree and noteworthiness of the effect.Nonetheless,a huge extent of the SEAs only provide dubious and subjective data,regularly ailing in the logical confirmation accommodated for the impact prediction.There is likewise an unmistakable absence of evaluation of the combined effects of the SEA with low-efficiency scores.

5 Conclusion and Recommendations

Through the above analysis,the SEA is an idea proposed to compensate for the absence of the environmental impact assessment.It is a decision-making and planning tool that facilitates the connection between the conditions and improvement and it is likewise a viable tool for executing the methodology of manageable development.There is not a unified assessment framework for SEA,only a more consistent assessment process,the assessment framework and factors need to be adjusted regarding various assessment objects.The evaluation procedure of the SEA facilitates the assessment process and enhances the subsequent assessment procedure.In the meantime,the SEA can enhance strategic environmental thinking of project decision-makers and planners,increment the public support in spatial planning and the arrangement choices,and change individuals' states of mind and contemplation on the environmental protection.Nonetheless,the absence of public knowledge of the significant data and evaluation methods prompted not as much as ideal public participation.In the meantime,as result of the extensive variety of evaluation structures and assessment frameworks,the experienced specialists should explain to the public at the start of the project.However,owing to the shortage of talents in this field,numerous evaluations are somewhat dubious and fail to accomplish the desired assessment outcomes.Regarding the above issues,this article puts forward a few proposals as follows:

（1）With the specific end goal to enhance the adequacy of the SEA,it is important to build up an audit program to set up in practice the general viability of the SEA as opposed to binding the review mechanism to the quality of the document[18].In the meantime,the SEA should be applied in the formation of the policies and the spatial planning projects to abstain from being connected to past the point where it is possible to impact the decision-making.

（2）Efforts to increase the public participation are not a onetime event but rather permeated all phases of the decision-making,which promotes the learning,amplifies the advantages of the SEA,and produces more prominent values.

（3）Use point by point,quantitative effect expectations rather than obscure subjective forecasts,while enhancing the logical rationale for impact predictions.The SEA is a planned behaviour,that is,predict the conceivable issues ahead of time,however,things are constantly changing,so the SEA should take this into consideration.

（4）The implementation of the SEA to spatial planning requires the diverse assessment systems as indicated by various planning purposes and distinctive planning and geographical conditions in order to guarantee the accuracy and validity of the assessment.