ABSTRACT The expertise of impact assessment practitioners and the legitimacy of their reports are increasingly being questioned. We analyze the subjectivity of impact assessment by exploring how the framing undertaken within Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) influences decision making about spatial development projects. Framing is the process by which actors order and make sense of social reality. We argue that framing influences the content, conclusions, effectiveness and legitimacy of impact assessment reports. We examined a major urban redevelopment, the Liverpool Waters project, for which three HIAs were commissioned to assess its impact on the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage site. These HIAs had varying outcomes with differences in baseline information, variables considered, methods used, and assessment of impacts. In our in-depth interviews with practitioners and decision makers involved with these HIAs, discussion of legitimacy centered around assumed differences between local and non-local knowledge. We argue that awareness of the role of framing is needed in the impact assessment field, and that transparency and participation by local stakeholders are crucial to prevent framing from having an undue influence.

中文翻译：

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框架对影响评估合法性的影响：检查为利物浦水域项目进行的遗产影响评估

摘要影响评估从业人员的专业知识及其报告的合法性日益受到质疑。我们通过探索遗产影响评估（HIA）中进行的框架如何影响有关空间开发项目的决策，来分析影响评估的主观性。构架是演员下令和理解社会现实的过程。我们认为框架影响影响评估报告的内容，结论，有效性和合法性。我们审查了一项重大的城市重建项目-利物浦水域项目，该项目委托了三个HIA评估其对利物浦海商市世界遗产的影响。这些HIA的结果各不相同，基线信息，所考虑的变量，使用的方法以及影响的评估也有所不同。在我们与涉及这些HIA的从业人员和决策者的深入访谈中，对合法性的讨论围绕本地和非本地知识之间的假定差异展开。我们认为，在影响评估领域需要了解框架的作用，并且地方利益相关者的透明性和参与对于防止框架产生不适当的影响至关重要。