Land use planning involves efforts to manage and direct changes within an area in such a manner that growth meets environmental sustainability.
Land planning initiatives rely on the principle that there is only limited land available, so to make the best decisions based on quality data and public input throughout plan formulation, review and implementation.
Residential
Residential land use planning entails the design, development and protection of homes and neighborhoods on residential properties. Planners must make certain that suitable properties exist for development while protecting environmental resources in an area.
Residential developments must offer convenient access to major roadways and shopping areas, with multiple housing options suitable for various budgets. Planners must also offer options that meet customer demand.
Residential land use planning must also take into account the size and layout of buildings and parking spaces, and take into account that some land uses are incompatible with others – for instance a new housing development should not be located close to an industrial facility due to potential noise and odor pollution; regulatory ordinances like zoning laws can help keep incompatible land uses separate.
Commercial
Land use planning helps us maximize the limited living space on Earth. Land-use planning entails exploring how best to develop cities and towns with amenities that benefit their inhabitants, while making use of any available space more efficiently.
Commercial land-use planning encompasses shopping centers, office buildings and other business-related sites. Additionally, this process helps preserve open areas for recreational activities like golf courses, parks, playing fields or fishing ponds and swimming pools.
Transport-related zoning is another element of commercial land use planning, covering highways, interstates, buses, trains, subway stations, airports, parking lots for public transit vehicles as well as Planned Unit Developments or PUDs that may or may not appear on a zoning map until approved as such projects.
Transportation
Transportation can have a tremendous effect on land use decisions and vice versa. Commercial activities rely heavily on their accessibility; residential and industrial land uses have mobility requirements that influence their locations as well.
Early land use-transportation models focused on urban spatial structures as an expression of social class structures and tradeoffs between commuting distance and housing affordability. Burgess’ concentric representations of urban space and Lowry’s model for regional economic expansion influenced later models that studied how city land uses changed with economic expansion.
Functional land use representations like multimodal models and cellular automata now include consideration of how transportation and land use interrelate in their analysis, taking into account factors like development locations/density impacts on travel demand/infrastructure needs as part of this analysis.
Recreational
Recreational land can provide the ideal setting for hunting retreats, fishing holes, hiking trails, ATV courses, family camping adventures or simply quiet respites – making it an invaluable long term investment. However, buyers should carefully evaluate factors like location, road access, zoning laws and utility accessibility before purchasing one.
Recreational land should meet the natural needs of man for air, sunlight, pleasurable physical activity in nature and periods of repose and refreshment from life in cities. Therefore, scenic, climate and recreational areas rarely overlap with centers of population – thus the recreational movement must be recognized and supported by federal governments as an ideal cultural movement.