Designing spatial adaptation planning instruments

© 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. All rights reserved. This chapter presents findings from an empirical evaluation of current spatial adaptation planning practice in Australia concerning climate- change-related coastal and bushfire hazards. It aims to help fill the policy design void in the spatial adaptation planning literature by: presenting a typology of policy instruments for adaptation; and outlining the key recommendations from the implementation analysis on the selection and design of the identified policy instruments. Instrument selection and design is strongly influenced by the institutional context in which policy choices are made. Policy design acknowledges this but seeks to encourage the structured and systematic consideration of alternatives and the consequences of different instrument choices, having regard to the context. One of the gaps in the adaptation literature concerns the design of the spatial planning instruments that are used to promote adaptation and address climate hazards.