Land-Use Planning
1
•
•
•
•
Need for Planning
Historical Forces
Rural to Urban Shift
Urban Sprawl
Outline
– Contributing Factors
– Problems with Unplanned Growth
• Land-Use Planning Principles
– Urban Planning Issues
– Smart Growth
• Federal Government Land Use Issues
2
The Need For Planning
• Between 1/3 - 1/2 world’s surface altered
by humans.
– Most land-use decisions are still based
primarily on economic considerations or shortterm needs rather than on unique analysis of
the landscape.
– Once land has been converted to intensive
human use, it is generally unavailable for other
uses.
3
Historical Forces That
Shaped Land Use in North
America
• Land Use in the United States:
– 47% - Crops and livestock
– 45% - Forests and natural areas
– 5% - Intensive human use
• Differs greatly from original conditions experienced
by immigrants from New World.
4
Historical Forces That
Shaped Land Use in North
America
• First U.S. colonists converted landscape to
farming, and then to towns and cities.
• Waterways provided primary method of
transportation.
– Allowed exploration and development of
commerce.
– Early towns usually built near water and at
transfer points between water systems.
5
Water and Urban Centers
6
Rural to Urban Shift
• North America remained essentially rural
until industrial growth began in last 1/3 of
1800’s.
• Industrial Revolution
– Industrial jobs to be found in cities.
• European Immigrants
– Congregated in, and subdivided cities.
• Offered variety of cultural, social, and artistic
opportunities.
7
Migration from Central City to
the Suburbs
• Industrial Revolution led to polluted,
undesirable waterways.
– As roads and rail transport became more
common, many left the waterway areas.
• Agricultural land surrounding towns was converted
to housing.
– Land began to be viewed as a commodity, not as a nonrenewable resource to be managed.
8
Suburb Migration
• As land prices in the city rose, people
began to look for cheaper areas away from
the city.
– 1950 - 60% urban population lived in central
cities.
– 1990 - 30% urban population lived in central
cities.
9
Rural-to-Urban Population Shift
10
Suburb Migration
• Convenience and personal automobiles
escalated decentralized housing patterns
and diminished importance of mass transit.
– Decreased energy efficiency.
– Increased cost of supplying utility services.
11
Suburb Migration
• Urban Sprawl - Pattern of un-planned low
density housing and commercial
development outside of cities.
– Land-Use Practices:
• Zoning ordinances that isolate employment and
shopping services away from housing locations.
• Low-density planning aimed at creating automobile
access to increasing expanses of land.
12
Suburb Migration
• Three types of urban sprawl:
– Development of exclusive wealthy suburbs
adjacent to the city.
– Tract Development - Construction of similar
residential units over large areas.
– Ribbon Sprawl - Commercial / industrial
buildings line highways connecting housing
developments to central city.
• Megalopolis - Merge of cities into large, urban
areas.
13
Regional Cities
14
Factors That Contribute
to
Sprawl
• Lifestyle
– Increased wealth of population.
• Decentralized housing pattern is possible because high
rate of automobile ownership allows ease of
movement.
• Economic
– Building on agricultural land less expensive.
– Tax laws encourage home development.
15
Factors That Contribute
to Sprawl
• Planning and Policy
– Historically, little coordination of effort.
• Large number of political jurisdictions.
– Zoning ordinances prohibit land use mixing.
• Specify minimum lot and house sizes.
– Government subsidies.
• Local governments pay some costs of extending
services into new areas.
– Alleviates costs to builders.
16
Problems Associated with
• Transportation Unplanned Growth
– Little thought to transportation corridors.
– Establishment of new corridors stimulates growth
in nearby areas.
• Reliance on automobiles has required constant road
building.
– In Los Angeles, 70% of city’s surface area dedicated to
automobiles.
• Average person in U.S. spends 9 hrs/wk in an
automobile.
17
Problems Associated with
Unplanned
Growth
• Air Pollution
– As traffic increases, so does air pollution.
• Low Energy Efficiency
–
–
–
–
Automobiles are inefficient transportation.
Decentralized cities - longer commutes.
Stop and go traffic patterns.
Single family homes less efficient.
18
Problems Associated with
Unplanned Growth
• Loss of Sense of Community
– In many areas, people do not routinely walk
through their neighborhood.
• Death of Central City
– Currently less than 10% of people work in the
central city.
• Less income to support public services.
• Higher Infrastructure Costs
– Extension of municipal services.
19
Problems Associated with
Unplanned Growth
• Loss of Open Space
– Oftentimes open space planning left out of
development plans.
• Loss of Farmland
– Flat, well-drained land ideal for both farmland
and urban development.
– Partial transformation often leads to whole
transformation.
20
Problems Associated with
Unplanned Growth
• Water Pollution Problems
– Large impervious surface areas lead to high
runoff and potential flooding.
• Floodplain Problems
– Many cities located on floodplains.
• Flat, nutrient rich.
– Development increases economic losses.
• Many communities have enacted floodplain zoning
ordinances.
21
Problems Associated with
Unplanned Growth
• Wetlands Misuse
– Many have been drained, filled, or used as
landfills.
• U.S. has lost 53% of wetlands since the European
immigration began (Not including Alaska).
– Wetlands play crucial role in reproductive phase of many
organisms.
» Provide sediment filtration.
22
Problems Associated with
Unplanned Growth
• Other Land-Use Considerations
– Geological Status
• Earthquake-Prone Faults
• Unstable Hillsides
• Fire-Prone Areas
– Climate
• Water Shortages
23
Land-Use Planning
Principles
• Land-Use Planning - Evaluating needs and
wants of a population, as well as land
characteristics and value, and various
alternative solutions to land uses before
changes are made.
– Basic rule should be to make as few changes as
possible.
24
Land-Use Planning
Principles
• Evaluate and record unique geological,
geographic, and biologic features.
• Preserve unique cultural or historical
features.
• Conserve open space and environmental
features.
• Calculate cost of additional changes
required to accommodate altered land
use.
25
Land-Use Planning
Principles
• Plan for mixed uses in close proximity.
• Plan variety of transportation options.
• Set limits and require managed growth
patterns with compact development.
• Encourage development in areas with
existing infrastructure.
26
Mechanisms for Implementing
Land-Use Plans
• Establish State / Regional Planning Agencies.
– More effective than larger agencies due to more
logical natural boundaries.
• Purchase Land or Use Rights.
– In many cases, owner may be willing to limit
future uses of the land.
27
Mechanisms for
Implementing Land-Use
Plans
• Regulate Use
– Zoning - Designating
land for specific uses.
• Often planners
represent business or
developing interests.
28
Special Urban Planning
Issues
• Urban Transportation Planning
– Four Goals
• Conserve energy and land resources.
• Provide efficient / inexpensive transportation.
– Target populations.
• Provide efficient transportation opportunities to
suburban residents.
• Reduce urban pollution.
29
Urban Transportation
Planning
• Problems with Mass Transit
– Only economical along heavily populated
routes.
– Extremely expensive to build / operate.
– Often crowded and uncomfortable.
– U.S. government encourages personal autos by
financing highways, maintaining cheap energy
policy, and not funding mass-transit projects
(hidden subsidies).
30
Problems with Mass
Transit
• Mass transportation systems are often
under-funded and difficult to establish
because mass transit is:
– Economically feasible only along heavily
populated areas.
– Less convenient than private automobiles.
– Extremely expensive to build and operate.
– Often crowded and uncomfortable.
31
Decline of Mass
Transportation
32
Urban Recreation
Planning
• Nearly 3/4 of N.A. population lives in urban
areas.
• Until recently, urban parks were
considered an uneconomical use of land.
• Facilities not conveniently located may be
infrequently used.
– New outgrowth of urbanization is the
development of urban nature centers.
33
Re-Development of
Inner City Areas
• Many industrial cities are plagued by high
cost of cleanup and renovation of
brownfields.
– Vacant industrial and commercial sites.
• Brownfield Development - Degree of clean-up
required to support intended use of the site.
• Another important focus is remodeling
abandoned commercial buildings into
shopping centers, cultural facilities, and
high-density housing.
34
Smart Growth
• Smart Growth recognizes benefits of growth.
– Advocates emphasize developing “livable” cities
and town.
• Quality of environment directly affects quality of life.
35
Smart Growth
• Smart Growth Principles
–
–
–
–
–
Mix land uses.
Take advantage of compact designs.
Create range of housing opportunities.
Create walkable neighborhoods.
Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a
strong sense of place.
36
Smart Growth Principles
– Preserve open space and critical environmental
areas.
– Strengthen development of existing areas.
– Provide variety of transportation choices.
– Make fair, cost-effective decisions.
– Encourage community and stakeholder
collaboration in development decisions.
37
Federal Government
Land-Use Issues
• Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act
– 1960 - Divided use of national forests into (4)
categories:
• Wildlife Habitat Preservation
• Recreation
• Lumbering
• Watershed Protection
38
Federal Government
Land-Use Issues
• 1872 Mining Law
– “Miners” allowed to purchase mineral
extraction rights to public land for $5.00 per
acre and keep rights as long as minimal
maintenance continued.
• Encouraged mining and mineral supplies.
39
Federal Government
Land-Use Issues
• Outdoor Recreation
– Many people want to use the natural world for
recreational purposes as nature can provide
challenges lacking in day-to-day life.
• Conflicts develop because some activities cannot
occur in the same place at the same time.
– Groups argue that because they pay taxes, they “own” the
land and have a right to use it.
40
U.S. Federal
Recreational Lands
41
Outdoor Recreation
• Agency Control
– Several U.S. agencies allocate and regulate the
lands they control.
• Conflicting Roles
– Forest Service
» Logging vs. Recreation
– Bureau of Land Management
» Grazing vs. Recreation
42
•
•
•
•
Need for Planning
Historical Forces
Rural to Urban Shift
Urban Sprawl
Review
– Contributing Factors
– Problems with Unplanned Growth
• Land-Use Planning Principles
– Urban Planning Issues
– Smart Growth
• Federal Government Land Use Issues
43
Be sure to read about wetlands loss in
Louisiana (291) & aesthetic pollution (296)
44