Abstract: In recent decades the convergence of values-sensitivity and public participation in planning processes within an environmentally attentive era has evolved to spawn a distinctive union: A community – environment – values tripartite. The meaning of this tri-part is regularly contested during the process of urbanisation; particularly when the provision of open space is contemplated.

At the same time, planning theorists have advanced the potential for performance based planning and adaptive management processes to accommodate complex and largely unpredictable social and environmental systems.

The purpose of this paper is to develop theoretical aspects of a doctoral research question, ‘How can community environmental values be incorporated into a performance based planning approach to guide the provision of open space for urban residents?’ Frameworks for understanding the meanings of concepts of ‘community environmental values’ and ‘performance based planning’ processes are constructed. The relationship between these concepts is explained.