Land-use planning

Land use planning nearly always requires land use regulation, which typically encompasses zoning. Zoning regulates the types of activities that can be accommodated on a given piece of land, as well as the amount of space devoted to those activities, and the ways that buildings may be situated and shaped. The ambiguous nature of the term "planning", as it relates to land use, is historically tied to the practice of zoning. Zoning in the United States came about in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to protect the interests of property owners. The practice was found to be constitutionally sound by the Supreme Court decision of Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. in 1926. One interpretation of the taking clause is that any restriction on the development potential of land through zoning regulation is a "taking". A deep-rooted anti-zoning sentiment exists in America, that no one has the right to tell another what he can or cannot do with his land. Ironically, although people are often averse to being told how to develop their own land, they tend to expect the government to intervene when a proposed land use is undesirable. Conventional zoning has not typically regarded the manner in which buildings relate to one another or the public spaces around them, but rather has provided a pragmatic system for mapping jurisdictions according to permitted land use. This system, combined with the interstate highway system, widespread availability of mortgage loans, growth in the automobile industry, and the over-all post-World War II economic expansion, destroyed most of the character that gave distinctiveness to American cities. The urban sprawl that most US cities began to experience in the mid-twentieth century was, in part, created by a flat approach to land use regulations. Zoning without planning created unnecessarily exclusive zones. Thoughtless mapping of these zones over large areas was a big part of the recipe for suburban sprawl. Unparalleled growth and unregulated development changed the look and feel of landscapes and communities. They strained commercial corridors and affected housing prices, causing citizens to fear a decline in the social, economic and environmental attributes that defined their quality of life. Zoning regulations became politically contentious as developers, legislators, and citizens struggled over altering zoning maps in a way that was acceptable to all parties. Land use planning practices evolved as an attempt to overcome these challenges. It engages citizens and policy-makers to plan for development with more intention, foresight, and community focus than had been previously used. ==Description and application==

Description Land use planning is defined as: the process by which optimum forms of land use and management are indicated, considering the biophysical, technological, social, economic and political conditions of a particular territory. The objective of planning land use is to influence, control or direct changes in the use of land so that it is dedicated to the most beneficial use and maintains the quality of the environment and promoting conservation of the land resources. The territorial diagnosis and the generation of alternatives of management and environmental protection for the planning of the use of the land produces the indispensable knowledge necessary for the formulation of the policies of use, contributing to the search of competitive and sustainable productive and extractive activities and systems. The methodological process of land use planning contributes to: orienting the location of economic and social activities regarding the aptitude of the land and providing solutions to conflicts of use; indicate the base of natural resources that should remain and protected areas; point out the areas exposed to natural hazards and their management; identify sustainable productive and extractive activities and systems; guide the planning of land uses and indicate the areas that require land adaptation or recovery projects. Planning process and parties involved In most countries, the local municipal council/local government, the body responsible of the environment and oftentimes the national government assume all the functions of land use planning; among them the corresponding function to territorial ordering (OT). For this reason, the highlighted bodies have among other responsibilities the promotion of the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, establishing policies, criteria, tools and procedures of the most appropriate efficient and sustainable territorial order in coordination with any other relevant corresponding entities such as construction companies and the public. Application • "Developing cities and towns": land use planning is an important component of city planning. The nature of cities required to the most beneficial use in terms of maximization of economic factors and promoting convenience, while maintaining the quality of the environment and promoting conservation of the land. The only way to achieve this is the utilization of the elements of land use planning. Conditions necessary • Community relations: for any land planning activity, the actors involved must involve the community or the public to put into consideration their opinions on the proposed land planning initiatives. After all, the land is being planned so that the public can enjoy the benefits that comes from land use planning. • Government and legal support: the government can support land use planning initiatives in a myriad of ways. The first is by financing or subsidizing a section of land use planning activities. The second way is by reducing bureaucracy and administration bottlenecks that comes with obtaining permits and licences. ==Pros and cons==

Pros • Land use planning is an important growth framework: prosperous urban areas have a vision that they must follow through a framework to achieve a development in a well-ordered way. Hence, land use planning provides the framework. • Fragmented land-use planning codes can reduce construction productivity. ==Land use planning and environmental sustainability==

In view of sustainable development, land use planning is seen as a political and technical-administrative decision-making process agreed with social, economic, political and technical factors, for orderly occupation and sustainable use of the land under development. On the other hand, it seeks regulation and promotion of the location and sustainable development of human settlements, economic and social activities, and spatial physical development, based on the identification of potentialities and limitations that consider environmental, economic, sociocultural, institutional and geopolitical criteria. By and large, these parameters are put in place in order to make sure that the environment is protected during land use or land development. Indeed, based on the recommendations of the United Nations in its Habitat conference, land is assigned a high importance for the development of human life as it is the fundamental support for its permanence and development, this being the most important objective of the policy of human settlements. That is, the land resource is recognized as an essential element, which supports the social, political and economic formation of society. As mentioned earlier, the use of land refers to the occupation of a certain area according to its agrological capacity and therefore its development potential, it is classified according to its location as urban or rural, it represents a fundamental element for the development of the city and its inhabitants since it is from these that its urban structure is formed and therefore its functionality is defined. For this reason, there is a need to ensure sustainability in order to ensure the we continue to enjoy the benefits that come from urban planning and to ensure that future generations will continue enjoying these benefits. To guarantee this, land use planning come into the fold. In a broader sense, this is a tool through which State defines the type of use land will have within a settlement, e.g. a city, while also determining the guidelines for its use in order to ensure effectiveness and sustainability. Land use, in this case, is assigned on the basis on its physical and functional characteristics that they have in the urban structure, and with the aim of occupying the space in an orderly manner and according to their physical capacity (occupation of areas suitable for urban development and environmental sustainability), which finally it translates into a harmonious growth of the city. This tool is structured through a planning system at the national and local level, which establishes the general guidelines that should be taken into account for the development of urban development. Here, the authorities involved might formulate a number of restrictions to guarantee sustainability, for example, banning land development in riparian zones or in national parks. Basically, the goal here is to protect the environment. Throughout the world, there are rising levels of environmental degradation due to unclean energy usage in the development and powering of cities and neighborhoods. In the 20th century, there was a global push to develop large cities quickly to accommodate the people who were migrating from rural areas to cities for jobs. The type of energy used for this was either coal or oil fuel, which meant that the environment was disregarded and damaged by numerous urban development projects. In order to create environmentally viable urban landscapes, the UN advocated for green energy use, as well as urban development that encouraged green-friendly transportation. In the United States, about 75% of the energy used is allocated to power buildings and modes of transportation; land use planning can be a useful tool in changing these aspects of energy usage in a way that would be beneficial to both residents and the ecology. • Encouraging public transportation usage and spread within a city. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities, created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department Of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 was intended to encourage sustainable land use planning. This partnership helps to ensure that federal housing projects, transportation, and other neighborhood infrastructure would help residents live closer to jobs, while also reducing pollution since there would be less commute time. Over the past decade, this federal partnership has funded 1,066 projects across the 50 States, as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The total amount of grant money given to these projects has reached approximately $4.6 billion. Some of the programs that the partnership sponsors are the Housing and Urban Development's "Sustainable Communities Regional Planning" and "Community Challenge Grant Programs". These programs have made important strides in sustainable urban planning, with about 40 percent of U.S. citizens now having access to communities who were awarded these grants. Both of these programs make up $240 million in federal investment towards local land use planning efforts. ==Types of planning==

Various types of planning have emerged over the course of the 20th century. Below are the six main typologies of planning, as defined by David Walters in his book, Designing Communities (2007): • Traditional or comprehensive planning: Common in the US after World War II, characterized by politically neutral experts with a rational view of the new urban development. Focused on producing clear statements about the form and content of new development. • Systems planning: 1950s–1970s, resulting from the failure of comprehensive planning to deal with the unforeseen growth of post World War II America. More analytical view of the planning area as a set of complex processes, less interested in a physical plan. • Democratic planning: 1960s. Result of societal loosening of class and race barriers. Gave more citizens a voice in planning for future of community. • Advocacy and equity planning: 1960s & 70s. Strands of democratic planning that sought specifically to address social issues of inequality and injustice in community planning. • Strategic planning: 1960s-present. Recognizes small-scale objectives and pragmatic real-world constraints. • Environmental planning: 1960s–present. Developed as many of the ecological and social implications of global development were first widely understood. in Arlington, Virginia. High density, mixed use development is concentrated within ¼–½ mile from the Rosslyn, Court House and Clarendon Washington Metro stations (shown in red), with limited density outside that area. This photograph is taken from the United States Environmental Protection Agency website describing Arlington's award for overall excellence in smart growth in 2002 — the first ever granted by the agency.Smart growth supports the integration of mixed land uses into communities as a critical component of achieving better places to live. Putting uses in close proximity to one another has benefits for transportation alternatives to driving, security, community cohesiveness, local economies, and general quality of life issues. Smart growth strives to provide a means for communities to alter the planning context which currently renders mixed land uses illegal in most of the country. ==Methods==

Professional planners work in the public sector for governmental and non-profit agencies, and in the private sector for businesses related to land, community, and economic development. Through research, design, and analysis of data, a planner's work is to create a plan for some aspect of a community. This process typically involves gathering public input to develop the vision and goals for the community. A charrette is a facilitated planning workshop often used by professional planners to gather information from their clients and the public about the project at hand. Charettes involve a diverse set of stakeholders in the planning process, to ensure that the final plan comprehensively addresses the study area. Geographic information systems, or GIS, are very useful and important tools in land use planning. It uses aerial photography to show land parcels, topography, street names, and other pertinent information. GIS systems contain layers of graphic information and their relational databases that may be projected into maps that allow the user to view a composite of a specific area, adding an array of graphically oriented decision-making tools to the planning process. ==Basis of land use planning authority in the United States ==

Police power is the basis for land use planning authority in the United States. This authority is usually delegated by state governments to local governments, including counties and cities. It is these local governments that most frequently exercise police power in land use planning matters. The regulation of land use based on police power is distinct from the taking of private property by the government through the power of eminent domain. If the regulation of land use is done under the authority of the police power, the private property owner is not typically entitled to compensation as they would be if property was taken under the power of eminent domain. The court decision in the case Commonwealth v. Alger was related to land use planning and dealt with the construction of a wharf on privately owned tidelands around Boston Harbor. == Practical examples ==

Milan Milan city is located in northern Italy. It is the second most populous city in the country after Rome with a population of over 4 million (The CBD and its metropolitan Boroughs). Every area in Milan is a segment that starts from the center and reaches the city limits, so that central areas and peripheral areas are part of the same area. In Milan, zones are not identified by names but numbers. The city hall area 1 of Milan includes the entire historical center, starting from the geographical center of Milan in Piazza Duomo up to the Cerchia dei Bastioni. The town hall area 2 goes from Piazza della Repubblica to Crescenzago, Turro, Greco and Precotto. The town hall 3 goes from Porta Venezia to Lambrate, passing through Città Studi. Since European settlers first began colonizing the American Continent, Indigenous peoples have lost 98.9% of their land, a Yale study found. The lands indigenous peoples were forced onto are facing current and future climate-change related risks. This fact leads to the perpetuation of systematic inequity for Indigenous peoples, since livelihoods, preservation of culture and tradition, access to adequate housing, and access to resources are all factors that are deeply rooted in land. Many Indigenous groups are embracing land use planning to determine the future of their territories. In Canada, for example, the Dehcho First Nations have developed a land use plan that honors cultural traditions and Elders' knowledge, and incorporates conservation, development zones, and other categories. This plan, which has been extensively researched, can serve as an excellent model for other Indigenous Nations, and for cities and areas across North America. Examples in the Global South While most of the examples discussed in this article were drawn from cities in the Global North, land use planning has been employed in cities all over the world. The Global North has traditionally been dominant in planning theory and practice. However, as the world continues to quickly urbanize, and the global population increases, most of the new global population growth is occurring in cities in the developing world, or the Global South. The future of land use planning Due to the increasing discussions in the issues of climate change and global warming, the future of land use planning will be dominated by environmental sustainability themes more than economic convenience. Also, due to the fact that the world is quickly urbanizing, and this massive population growth is mostly occurring in cities in the Global South, some of the assumptions we have formed about land use planning must be reimagined, as common theory and practice is no longer always relevant to those cities that are currently practicing land use planning. ==See also==

• Journal of Transport and Landuse • Environment and Planning • Journal of land use and Environmental Law • Journal of the American Planning Association • Planning Theory ==References==