Local planning for sustainable development: A small rural district case study from New Zealand

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a “capital‐based” framework can be used by a small local government to plan sustainable development to promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well‐being of their communities.

This New Zealand case study develops a framework for local government action and applies it to measure stocks of human made, natural, human, social and cultural capital for a small rural district.

The conclusions find that it is possible to apply a capital‐based framework to local government planning, despite some data gaps, especially in the areas of social and cultural capital.

The framework for local government action developed in the paper provides a well‐structured guide for planning investment in capital to promote the well‐being of local communities.

Sustainable development indicator (SDI) frameworks are becoming commonplace at the national level; this paper shows how an SDI framework can be used to guide planning at the local government level.