Institutional Design for the Co-Management of an Urban-Sited Port in New Zealand: Local Implications of National Reforms

Abstract

"Our objective in this paper is to describe our current research on urban-port development conflicts in terms of common-pool management systems. This is an attempt to move the discussions of locational conflicts, and corporate social responsibility, into the discourse on common-pool resource management.

"Since 1984 institutional reforms in environmental management in New Zealand have sought a more integrated approach, as compared to previous statues and practices. The Resource Management Act (1991) overturned decades of town and country planning statutes, and focused environmental management on the objective of sustainable outcomes. This was complemented by a major reform of local government boundaries and responsibilities. In this paper we question whether these sweeping reforms can achieve their stated policy objectvies in local harbour/port contexts.

"We address this question first by examining the current situation of harbour management in New Zealand. This is characterized by a strong thrust toward corporatization and privatization of harbour management bodies, as well as by pressure from diverse stakeholders. Then we examine the port on the Otago Harbour as a case study in shifting institutional arrangements in a complex CPR. We analyze the long standing conflicts between the port company based at a local community on the harbour and the local community itself as a critical issue in understanding the new institutional arrangements for harbour and port management. We conclude with implications for the design of effective co-management arrangements for ports located in dynamic and diverse communities."