Land use planning involves devising strategies to ensure land is utilized optimally for its designated use, protecting both the environment and ensuring people can live, work, and play in convenient places.
Land-use planning occurs on many different levels, from local to national and international. This cluster will discuss various aspects of land-use planning such as commercial, transportation and agricultural.
Commercial
Commercial land is usually utilized for shops, offices, and infrastructure related to commerce. This category also encompasses structures that transport people between points such as roads, airports, trains, and buses – this category of property usually falls under local zoning laws that can be altered via variance requests.
Without land use planning processes in cities and towns, they would struggle to function normally. Industrial plants would pollute the environment; transportation would become unmanageable; people wouldn’t have anywhere they can work or live; land-use planning has evolved over the years to balance economic development with environmental sustainability.
Transportation
Transportation facilities are essential to community growth, and transportation land use planning focuses on the level and location of spatial accumulation of activities such as retailing, management, manufacturing or residence that rely on transport systems to support flows. Their efficiency depends on activity concentration; an effective transport system minimizes congestion by placing low-density development near homes while higher density developments near jobs or shopping centers.
Integrating land use models and transportation models allows more scenarios to be tested. For instance, adding rail lines might make certain suburbs more appealing for commuters; adding this scenario to the model results in a land use/transportation feedback cycle where travel demand and residential relocations are influenced by its presence.
NITC research seeks strategies to better integrate transportation and land use planning for more sustainable growth patterns. These efforts employ smart growth principles such as urban growth boundaries, transit-oriented development, multimodal access and multimodal trips in order to reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and increase non-auto trips (walking cycling or transit), all while protecting agricultural, habitat and natural resource lands.
Recreation
Recreational land can include equestrian centers, parks, open spaces, golf courses, sporting fields, playgrounds, fishing ponds and swimming pools. Recreational properties often serve as weekend getaways and family retreats; additionally they can make an ideal investment since they allow individuals to unwind and appreciate nature at the same time.
Accessing public lands and waterways for outdoor recreation is a top priority of the Department of the Interior. Land planners work closely with local governments and land owners to ensure these public lands are available for people of all ages to experience, by analyzing various regulations that might impact a project – such as those related to environmental, hazardous materials, archeology, wetlands management rights or threatened or endangered species considerations. Furthermore, land planners can assist communities in creating open space recreation plans (OSRP), which include aspirations as well as suggestions on patterns of development that could support these aspirations goals.
Agricultural
Land use planning is an integral component of commercial development. Done correctly, it will ensure that projects can be completed without impacting their surrounding environments, which makes hiring an experienced Utah land planning firm essential.
Land planners evaluate all factors affecting an area’s ability to accommodate a given land-based project, including land use categories and cultural and physiographic features as well as real estate markets and government regulations that play an integral role.
Land planning creates a firm foundation for future growth and should always be handled carefully to protect the environment, reduce pollution, encourage sustainable economic development and enhance quality of life. Without it, our cities would become unruly places where industrial plants pollute air and water pollution while the economy struggles – our lives depend on it!