Land use planning is the practice of organizing the occupation and use of land based on its potentials and limitations, using technical-administrative policies in collaboration with political, economic and technical actors.
At present, federal policies can influence land-use practices through flood insurance and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac lending rules, but more work needs to be done at local resolution scale to make these strategies effective.
Malinvestment
Land use planning refers to the practice of organizing land for various uses in order to achieve desirable social and environmental results. This process typically includes regulating development patterns, restricting urban sprawl, minimizing transport costs and preventing land-use conflicts – while keeping in mind the impact these decisions will have on society as a whole.
NAHB has developed Land Use Planning Resources to aid members and HBAs in understanding the land-use planning process, addressing policy obstacles, and creating environments in which both present and future generations can thrive. These tools aim to better equip members and HBAs for participation in local/regional land-use policy discussions.
An investi- ment and planning policy coupling model was used to simulate the effects of investment and planning policies on local land-use structure. Triggered by macro policies, this simulation attempted to predict various land-use structures under various scenarios. Results demonstrated that this method proved successful and may be utilized by planners in future for planning spatial distribution of various forms of land use types.
Economic downturns
Recessions, or economic downturns, are an unfortunate part of life that can have lasting repercussions for land use. They may occur within a single nation or region or globally and could be caused by several factors – loss in confidence among investors, high unemployment rates, slowing growth rates and rising interest rates to name but a few. Recessions could also be brought about by factors like increases in oil prices or decreases in agricultural production.
Assuring a sustainable land-rich world will require transformational changes to humanity’s land footprint and the way global resources are administered on a systemic and cooperative basis. These transformations must include increasing affordable housing options and offering various transportation choices, while creating distinctive communities, protecting open space, farmland, cultural resources and critical environmental areas from development pressures, as well as devising new forms of global governance that connect trade with environmental protection.
High costs
Land use planning seeks to regulate the location and development of human settlements, economic activity, and natural resources. Its goals include environmental preservation, restraint of urban sprawl, minimization of transport costs, prevention of land use conflicts and reduction of resource degradation while improving public services. Typically the benefits of land use planning come in the form of reduced resource degradation and enhanced public services.
However, these activities may add additional costs associated with land reform implementation. Public awareness campaigns for instance increase registrations, mappings and transfers; furthermore they often favor wealthy households over others.
Land reform’s costs can become even higher when its goals collide with traditional property rights. For instance, in the United States the Fifth Amendment of its Constitution forbids taking private property without compensation by government – leading to widespread anti-zoning sentiment among Americans and skepticism about land use planning in developing nations which can limit its effectiveness.
Lack of communication
One of the main obstacles to effective land use planning lies in citizens not understanding its fundamental workings, whether due to communication barriers or ignorance. Citizens tend to focus only on immediate needs without considering long-term ramifications of plans; or their focus may be too narrowly focused on their individual properties that they fail to consider the larger picture of how the municipality functions as a whole.
Land-use planning relies heavily on understanding how people communicate. This involves both technical and psychological barriers that impede communication; both must be considered to ensure successful land-use planning processes.
Even with these difficulties, all mayors interviewed considered civic participation a necessity for their municipality; although their opinions on optimal citizen involvement varied. While some considered it indispensable in all areas, others thought it unnecessary in certain parts.