A decision-making framework for regenerative precinct development

There is growing consensus that our current sustainability approach in the built environment is inadequate in responding to the scale and urgency of the global climate emergency and that a new model of what it means to be sustainable is required. Regenerative development has emerged as a compelling and hopeful alternative that demonstrates the vast capacity and capability of the built environment to have a more positive impact on the entire social-ecological system. However, very few investigations into the practical applications of regenerative development that are emerging, especially at a precinct scale, have provided an in-depth understanding of the actual decisions that are made, how they are made and what influences them. Furthermore, few of the existing regenerative frameworks and tools are designed to specifically support decision-making and its associated challenges and opportunities throughout the development process.This thesis responds directly to this by developing an evidence-based decision-making framework for regenerative precinct development from the key findings of an in-depth qualitative case study investigation into the decision-making approaches of four precincts across Australia that are aligned with regenerative development. To do so, this thesis has developed a novel empirical and qualitative research approach to investigate decision-making in a regenerative development context, which is used to generate key findings from this case study investigation as a set of multi-level and evidence-based decision-making themes.Using this novel approach, four core decision-making themes were generated to represent the key decisions made throughout the regenerative precinct development process, which are centred around collectively discovering, implementing and sharing responsibility for a precinct's vision of positive value adding potential. Four supporting themes were also generated which identify the diverse range of factors that can influence the effectiveness of these key decisions. A novel evidence-based decision-making framework for regenerative precinct development was then developed from these key findings to enable built environment decision-makers to effectively align their thinking, decisions and actions with the fundamental principles of regenerative development.Ultimately, this research provides an in-depth understanding of how decisions are made in a regenerative development context and how they can be supported to facilitate the necessary and timely transition towards regenerative development practices. The case study key findings and decision-making framework do so by demonstrating and guiding a fundamentally different way of thinking and making decisions, which in turn creates a strong foundation for advancing future regenerative development theory and practice from a decision-making perspective.