Abstract
This is an original and first statistical inquiry into the potential effect of compassion on the pattern of decisions made by a statutory planning appeal board (PAB). As a contribution to the empirical research on development control using disaggregate data, it seeks to statistically evaluate by probit modelling the decision-making factors behind Hong Kong's PAB decisions under the Town Planning Ordinance from 1990 to 2018. It found no evidence to support compassion of the PAB members had played any role in shaping their decisions upon planning appeal hearings. Incidentally, it was established that planning appeal decisions were affected by the gender mix of PAB such that the probability of a planning appeal case being dismissed increased with female presence on a PAB panel. This empirical finding deserves further in-depth analysis as this should open up new arrays of research with important policy and practical implications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 102522 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Cities |
| Volume | 97 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
Funding
sThe idea was formalized first in 2016 in a GRF proposal (RGC Ref No. 17603517) “Planning by compassion: a probit analysis of the decision-making variables of the Planning Appeal Board”. The idea and statistical tests here were sharpened, where valid and appropriate, by the comments of 5 reviewers. The authors are indebted to Research Assistants Mr. Ronald Yu and Mr. Paul Lok for data mining; the Editor and two anonymous referees for their useful comments.
Keywords
- Compassion
- Development control
- Gender
- Planning appeal
- Probit modelling