June 15, 2018

In light of increasing concerns over aging infrastructure and urban growth, local governments are looking for ways to improve management of municipal assets that supply community services. At the same time, many communities are experiencing widespread decline in ecosystem quality. Municipal Natural Asset Management has been proposed as offering a sustainable solution to this multifaceted problem.

Professional Planning practice has been identified as having a potentially key role in the implementation of municipal natural asset management due to their diverse and interdisciplinary field, as well as their key involvement with land use decision-making. The objective of this study was to identify the top five barriers and opportunities in professional planning practice in Ontario that stand to affect the refinement, replication, and scaling up of municipal natural asset management projects.