County Planning Research Articles

Assessment of exurban expansion on water quality in Rock Creek of the Yellowstone River in southcentral Montana, USA

Exurban expansion can degrade significantly stream water quality. This study was conducted on Rock Creek of the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River in southcentral Montana, USA. The impact from recent exurban expansion was evaluated by a baseline study measuring total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and nitrites (NO2) and nitrates (NO3) together. This was part of a larger study by Montana Department of Environmental Quality to assess water quality, identify sources of pollution and develop total maximum daily loads (TMDL). Water samples were measured for these analytes at nine (2022) and 11 (2023) locations with different land-uses over seven periods (both years). Seasonal spikes, corresponding to runoff (2022, late May), occurred in TSS, TP and TN. Data from 2023 showed similar but reduced levels occurring in June for TSS and TP. Total suspended solids, TP, NO2 and NO3 concentrations increased by location year over year, 2022 to 2023. The high relative concentrations of NO2 and NO3 in Rock Creek are primarily associated with exurban expansion, a significant threat to stream quality and wildlife habitat in Montana. The results will assist county planners in land use decisions.

Systemic Predictive Safety Analysis of Pedestrian Crashes for Montgomery County’s Vision Zero Program

The goal of Vision Zero is the prevention of all traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Although traditional transportation planning is reactive to locations where serious crashes occur, some agencies are taking a more proactive approach to safety to improve locations with high expected crashes before someone is seriously injured or killed. This paper presents the results of a systemic safety analysis that produced two pedestrian-related safety performance functions for Montgomery County, MD, including 1) motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians at intersections at night and 2) through-movement motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians at road sections. These models were built using negative binomial regression of police-reported crash data collected from 2015 to 2019 for most of the county road network integrated with land use-, demographic-, and roadway variables collected by the Montgomery County Planning Department for 16,387 intersections (stop-controlled and signalized) and 29,715 segments (all functional classifications except freeways). Both models identified key transportation-related exposure variables, including motor vehicle and pedestrian volumes, proximity to transit, and crosswalk locations; they also presented land use contexts that may explain where pedestrians are likely to walk and be exposed to crash risks. These results build on current systemic safety literature and demonstrate the data collection and analysis methods that can be used in a county-level Vision Zero context to improve safety for all who walk. This paper summarizes the analysis approach, including exposure modeling, crash modeling, and applications for identifying both high-risk locations and potential mitigations. Considerations for equity and long-term planning are also discussed.

Turning ‘managed retreat’ research into practice ready tools: needed guidelines to reach stakeholders

Abstract The study of “managed retreat” as a response to climate change impacts has emerged in recent years as an important field of inquiry that is in need of substantial further research and improved understanding—particularly in the United States (Dundon and Abkowitz, 2021; Plastrik and Cleveland, 2019; Hino, et al., 2017; Dachary-Bernard, et al., 2019). However, the critical participant stakeholders in managed retreat discussions—often city/county planning officials and community members in vulnerable areas—often do not have adequate access to meaningful planning information or other tools to support decision making. With some notable exceptions, important research in this field that could assist communities is often relegated to academic journals that are not often visited by city or county planners faced with the very decisions this research could inform. Although the realities of research careers often require a focus on publication in prestigious academic journals, more attention is now needed to get actionable research knowledge in the hands of the practitioner. The need to develop user-friendly tools that direct research information into the hands of stakeholders most likely to benefit from such work is even more urgent than ever: climate change presents current, continuing, and substantial challenges for humanity in nearly every sector of the economy. Many extreme weather events have already increased (in frequency and/or severity) because of our changing climate, including flooding, heavy precipitation, extreme heat, and other climate-induced events (U.S. EPA, n.d.).

The importance, orientation and key content of township-level comprehensive spatial planning in China

On the basis of fully understanding the key characteristics and problems of China’s township master plans, this article clarifies the requirements of the territorial spatial planning system reform for the governance system of townships and towns, urban–rural integration and high-quality development, and points out the necessity of overall planning for township-level territorial spaces in China. Then, based on the study of international experience and the division of administrative powers between county-level government and township-level government, it proposes the positioning features of overall planning for township-level territorial spaces, including the communication and implementation of municipal and county planning, innovating the control methods concerning the use of town seat space, and coordinating and guiding the formulation of detailed plans. It also indicates that the key content of overall planning for township-level territorial spaces must include natural resource management, development and utilization of territorial spaces, spatial pattern of town areas, spatial layout of town seats, management and control of village construction, etc.

Strategic Planning and Preparation of Projects for Accessing Structural Funds for 2021-2027. Lessons Learned or History Repeating?

The papers makes an analysis, with a focus on the North-East Region of Romania, of the stage of the drafting of strategic documents at national level and their correlation with regional and county planning documents, at the end of 2022. The analysis is carried out both in terms of the regional and local strategic documents, correlated with the national ones, as well as in terms of the perception held by some of the most important regional actors. The questions that the article pursues in its research approach are: How do we evaluate the preparation of projects for the new programming period 2021-2027 from the point of view of strategic planning and correlation with the documents adopted at the national/regional/local level? and . How do local actors perceive the influence on the absorption of European funds the drafting and adoption of strategic documents at national and regional level after the start of the programming period? The conclusions of the research: after two programming periods, there are still difficulties in connecting the priorities of the strategies and the preparation of local projects for accessing European funds based on the national and regional strategic documents.

Association Between a Capitated, Low-cost, County-Based Public Health Insurance Option and Affordable Care Act Premium Growth in California

Empirical evidence is needed on how a capitated, risk-based county plan performs as a viable public option in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace in California. To estimate whether LA Care-a capitated, county-based public option and California's largest public insurer-was associated with health insurance premium growth in the Los Angeles (LA) regions of Covered California (CC), the ACA exchange in California. This economic evaluation used ACA silver plan premium data within the 19 CC regions. Difference-in-differences and event study models used data on plan-level premiums from Health Insurance Exchange Compare for years 2014 to 2022 to estimate the association between LA Care and ACA premium growth in LA. The intervention was LA Care becoming the lowest-cost health plan on the ACA exchange in 2018. The treatment group included the East and West LA regions, and the control group included the remaining 17 CC regions. The main outcome variable was annual premium growth of plans on CC from 2014 to 2022. Using 504 plan-level observations for 2014 to 2022, ACA premium growth in LA declined by 4.8% after LA Care became the lowest-cost health plan on the exchange in 2018 (coefficient estimate, -0.048; SE, 0.022; 95% CI, -0.093 to -0.002). Savings due to lower premium growth from 2019 to 2022 were calculated to be $345 million, with approximately 70% of the savings ($242 million) going to the federal government. In this economic evaluation, LA Care was associated with lower premium growth of other health insurance plans in the LA regions of CC, with the majority of savings going to the federal government. California could have captured these savings if it had applied for and received a State Innovation Waiver under section 1332 of the ACA. LA Care may be a viable public option with the potential to be expanded across California through the state's 16 other county-based health plans.

A bi-level model for state and county aquatic invasive species prevention decisions

Recreational boats are important vectors of spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) among waterbodies of the United States. To limit AIS spread, state and county agencies fund watercraft inspection and decontamination stations at lake access points. We present a bi-level model for determining how a state planner can efficiently allocate inspection resources to county managers, who independently decide where to locate inspection stations. In our formulation, each county manager determines a set of optimal plans for the locations of inspection stations under various resource constraints. Each plan maximizes inspections of risky boats that may carry AIS from infested to uninfested lakes within the county. Then, the state planner selects the set of county plans (i.e., one plan for each county) that maximizes the number of risky boats inspected throughout the state subject to a statewide resource constraint. We apply the model using information from Minnesota, USA, including the infestation status of 9182 lakes and estimates of annual numbers of boat movements from infested to uninfested lakes. Comparison of solutions of the bi-level model with solutions of a state-level model where a state planner selects lakes for inspection stations statewide shows that when state and county objectives are not aligned, the loss in efficiency at the state-level can be substantial.

Gazex avalanche control system noise and vibration assessment

Bollard Acoustical Consultants, Inc. was retained by the Placer County Planning Dept. to quantify noise and vibration levels resulting from the Gazex avalanche control system usage during the winter of 2018-2019. The primary objective of the monitoring program was to obtain a statistically representative sample of noise and vibration data during Gazex usage for comparison against criteria for potential damage to structures and human hearing. During the survey period, 75 discrete discharges of Gazex cannons occurred. Each discharge was monitored at five fixed monitoring sites in the Alpine Meadows residential community. At the completion of the survey, 1,079 of the possible 1,125 possible data points of interest had successfully been captured. The results of the surveys indicated that, although noise and vibration levels generated by the Gazex system were elevated to the point of being considered highly annoying to local residents, criteria for damage to hearing and structures were not exceeded during the survey period.

Building Sustainable Communities Through Engaged Learning: A University-Community Partnership for Sustained Change in a Central Pennsylvania Coal Town

University-community partnerships have become more collaborative, decentered, and mutually beneficial in step with changing conceptualizations of knowledge production. However, the implementation of partnerships and projects remains challenging. Models for collaboration are needed in the rural context and for smaller liberal arts universities. This article uses the partnership between Bucknell University and the City of Shamokin to argue for the utility of the sustainable communities framework for conceiving and implementing service-learning. The City of Shamokin previously hosted a prosperous and vibrant downtown district, but the closing of anthracite coal mines and factories has left Shamokin in a decades-long state of economic and population decline. Today, Shamokin faces many challenges brought by this decline: a large elder population, high rates of home and business vacancy, legacies of environmental degradation, and high rates of poverty. In 2014, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development declared Shamokin an Act 47 Distressed City, rendering the city bankrupt. In this complex landscape, Bucknell University and its Coal Region Field Station are partnering with and across various local entities, including the city, the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area, Northumberland County Planning Department, and the newly formed sustainable development group Anthracite Region for Progress. The sustainable communities framework emphasizes four pillars—economic, social, cultural, and environmental—that serve as a guide for facilitating these ongoing collaborations. These partnerships form the basis of collaborative initiatives developed through community-engaged classroom projects and faculty-led research projects that seek to contribute to partners’ visions for a sustainable community.

Green infrastructure in comprehensive plans in coastal Texas

By guiding where, how, and when development occurs, comprehensive plans are an important vehicle to implement green infrastructure. To examine how green infrastructure is incorporated into local comprehensive plans, we evaluate 38 city and county plans in coastal Texas. Like many coastal regions, coastal Texas is experiencing rapid population growth, environmental degradation, and growing natural hazard threats. We found that local comprehensive plans in this region do not effectively incorporate green infrastructure. Few plans include goals related to green infrastructure or discuss the benefits of green infrastructure. The plans lack information critical for planning a green infrastructure network and rely on a narrow set of policies. Based on the prevalence of strategies to protect open space, green infrastructure is valued by communities even if they do not use the term “green infrastructure.” Ultimately, the results suggest that there is a critical need to build planning capacity to advance green infrastructure implementation.

Participatory Transparency in Kenya: Toward an Engaged Budgeting Model of Local Governance

AbstractResearch about citizen participation in public budgeting is inconclusive regarding whether citizens actually influence budgetary priorities. In Kenya, emerging citizens’ participation models spawned by a constitutional mandate are excellent laboratories for evaluating the impact of citizens on county planning and budgeting decisions. Focus groups of citizens who have participated in planning and budgeting sessions in four Kenyan counties revealed their experiences, their perceived impact in public participation, and suggestions about how their county's participation could be improved. Analysis indicates counties vary in their performance and commitment to an engaged budgeting model whereby participating citizens are able to influence county priorities in the capital budget. Findings support the necessity of participatory transparency for citizens' influence; repeating participants in county budget forums are learning technical and legal aspects of county budgeting, and are beginning to influence the engaged budgeting processes. We argue that participatory transparency is a necessary condition for citizens to be able to affect priorities.

Management Support and Strategies Integration in County Governments in Kenya: A Case of County Government of Kirinyaga

County Governments are mandated to design development plans which are incorporated in the five-year strategic plans called County Integrated Development Plans. However, many of these programmes are never integrated into the county structures. Even the strategies that are implemented are only implemented through the goodwill of the existing leadership. They are rarely integrated into the County Government structure and systems. The main objective of the study was to establish the influence of management support on strategy integration in County Governments in Kenya. The study’s specific objectives were: To establish the influence of strategic leadership, resource allocation, capacity building and employee involvement on strategies integration in county governments in the County government of Kirinyaga. The study is anchored on three main theories which include McKinsey 7S Theory, Upper Echelon Theory and resource-based view theory. A descriptive study design was applied in the study. The target population in this research project was 277 employees in County Government of Kirinyaga. A sample of 164 respondents was selected but only 100 questionnaires were returned. Primary data was collected by use of questionnaires while secondary data was gathered through a review of the county government documents, published journals and articles. The Drop and pick method were used to administer the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, regression and correlation analysis was conducted to draw conclusions on the findings. The results revealed a strong positive relationship between management support and Strategy Integration in the County as indicated by the coefficient (r = 0.872). The coefficient of determination (r 2 = 0.76) revealed that 76% of the changes in strategy integration can be explained by the changes in management support while 24% of the changes in management support can be explained by other factors beyond this study. Based on the Study findings, it was concluded that the level of strategy integration in the county government is highly dependent on the level of management support. Based on the research findings, the study recommended that County leadership should be focused on implementing the strategic goals as outlined in the County Integrated Development Plans without other political disruptions. To meet the goals enlisted in the County development plan, it is recommended that the county governments in Kenya should invest on capacity building to enhance the efficiency of their human resources, endeavor to adopt efficient strategic leadership and increase employee involvement in the planning and execution of the county development plan. Key Words: Management Support and Strategies Integration in County governments DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-18-17 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

National Road Safety Policy in Sweden as Reflected in Plans for Regional Transport Infrastructure

In 1997 the Swedish Parliament adopted the Vision Zero road safety policy, which since 2009 is included in a consideration goal (road safety, environment, health) as one of two goals under an overall transport goal. The target of achieving Vision Zero is not specified for different authorities. Investments in infrastructure are a common way of designing a safe system. Plans for regional transport infrastructure are therefore tools to achieve the national target.
 The aim of the study is to analyse how Vision Zero has been applied by regional authorities as a term, a goal or a clarification in justifying measures in county plans for regional transport infrastructure in the period 2014–2025 in Sweden. Ten of twenty-one plans were included in the analysis as they selected costs for road safety measures for both state and municipal roads. The plans were analysed using directed and summative content analysis.
 The consideration goal is rarely in evidence. Measures are most often justified by accessibility and public transport, walking and cycling, as clarifications of the functional goal (accessibility). It is likely that the imbalance between the functional goal and the consideration goal reflects a lack of governance by the Vision Zero road safety policy.Fulfilling a national road safety target requires well-adapted sub-targets for the organizations concerned

GIS-based landslide susceptibility for environment protection of Black Sea Romanian coast

In the last decades the landslide assessment plays a crucial role in land use development in order to minimize the negative effect of economic live and people’s health. This paper present a GIS based landslide susceptibility assessment. This model is applied on the Littoral Coast line from Constanta to 2 Mai village, which is about 50 km along the Black Sea coast, crossing the Danube – Black Sea Channel at Agigea and passing through several resorts – Eforie Nord, Eforie Sud, Techirghiol, Costinesti and Mangalia. The data used are: geological map (lithology per geologic group), topographic maps of relevant scale to define slope angle (β), and some geotechnical parameters per geological group. For each of them a GIS map was produced. Based on the research results, we could conclude that Landslide Susceptibility Area (LSA) maps represent a great tool used in the identification of areas predisposed to landslides and could be used as support in the decision-maker process in order to propose environmental work protection or county planning.

Influence Mechanism of County Scale and Structure on the Household Carbon Emissions and its Planning Strategies

In order to achieve China’s national contribution goal of 60% to 65% reduction in CO2 intensity per unit of GDP from 2005-2030 at the climate conference in Paris, China needs to make more efforts in low carbon development. The county is an important level for China’s urban-rural carbon and oxygen planning, and it still has a large potential for carbon emission reduction. This study mainly explores the influence mechanism of county scale and structure on household carbon emissions. First of all, I build a county scale and structural factor index system, and analyse the impact mechanism on this basis. Secondly, I select 10% of the county-level administrative units, and empirically analyse the relationship between factor indicators and the household carbon emissions in terms of population, economy and land use. Finally, based on the results of the empirical analysis, the impact mechanism is re-discussed, and the corresponding county planning strategy is proposed accordingly. The results of this study and policy recommendations have guiding significance for promoting institutional arrangements for low-carbon development in counties.

Assessing Principles of Good Governance: The Case of Lake Wausau, Wisconsin

AbstractThis paper describes how in‐depth interviews and content analysis of water‐related policies and plans were used to assess good governance principles (transparency, effectiveness, equity, accountability, and appropriate scale) for Lake Wausau in central Wisconsin. The purpose of the research was to support and inform development of a lake management plan. One of the key findings was that the existing system of water governance lacked transparency. In addition, responsibility for and benefits from potential improved lake conditions were distributed unevenly and inequitably among stakeholders. Local and county plans were vague and lacked strong language (e.g., “should” vs. “must” comply) to indicate which actions were required. Both barriers to and opportunities for creating a more effective system were identified. This paper offers suggestions for improving the governance system, discusses the limits of local watershed planning for overcoming watershed management issues, and provides suggestions for anyone wishing to undertake governance analyses to support water resources management.

Analysis and evaluation of nutrient composition of Ophiopogonis Radix in Santai area

Ophiopogon japonicus is one of the commonly used medicines,and it has gradually become a therapeutic food for people's daily health care. O. japonicus in Sichuan province is the famous Dao-di herbs in Sichuan province,and is mainly produced in Santai county,Sichuan province. With the unique geographical advantage,Santai county plans to declare the new food raw materials of O. japonicus based on the geographical indication products( Fu Cheng O. japonicus),so it is necessary to analyze and evaluate the nutritional components of O. japonicus in Santai county. The experimental results showed that the content of the nutrients was characterized by low fat,high polysaccharide,high potassium and high vitamin B2,which can be developed as new food raw materials.

US Vision Zero Plans: Opportunity to Support Safer Walking and Bicycling

Vision Zero is defined by a systems perspective to equitably reduce fatalities and serious injuries from road traffic crashes to zero. Recently, United States’ (US) cities began developing Vision Zero plans to address safety for all road users, including pedestrians/bicyclists. PURPOSE: We described the content of these plans to identify areas for improvement and facilitate creation of new plans. METHODS: We identified, collected, and analyzed 14 US Vision Zero plans published from 2014-2017. An extensive quantitative and qualitative coding tool was developed to identify elements of high quality plans. RESULTS: In total, 13 municipal and 1 county plan were abstracted. Nine of 14 plans described public participation in plan development, with 6 holding public meetings, 5 using surveys, 5 using map mark-ups, and 1 using social media. Most (n=13) plans had a vision statement and included goals/objectives to achieve the vision (n=12), but few included timelines to accomplish the goals (n=3). The goals to reach zero fatalities/serious injuries targeted the year 2020 (n=1), 2025 (n=3), 2028 (n=1), and 2030 (n=6), while 3 plans did not set a target date. All plans described the number of local-area crashes, but only half (n=7) reported the crash type, including involvement of a pedestrian/bicyclist. Plans included policy (11 traffic calming, 10 walking/bicycling to school, 9 Complete Streets, 5 no right turn on red), engineering (9 slow zones, 3 shared space for all road users), and educational (12 school education on pedestrian/bicyclist safety, 11 mass media/educational campaign on safety/speeding, 2 crosswalk ambassadors) strategies to address safety of pedestrians/bicyclists. Three of 14 plans proposed funding strategies for their implementation activities. Nine plans mentioned an evaluation plan for measuring progress, but most evaluation descriptions were brief. CONCLUSION: The assessment of US Vision Zero plans indicates that improvements could be made by involving the public more deliberately in plan development, including a clearer vision statement with connection to a target goal date and evaluation plan, and identifying funding sources for implementation activities. A number of target strategies could improve safety for pedestrians/bicyclists and should eventually be evaluated for their impacts.

Application of Geographic Information Systems to Address Chronic Disease Priorities: Experiences in State and Local Health Departments.

Application of Geographic Information Systems to Address Chronic Disease Priorities: Experiences in State and Local Health Departments.

Review of Studies on Sustainable Development of Characteristic Towns: Key Word Frequency Analysis Method

During the fast development of China’s urbanization process, the concept of characteristic towns is put forward to advance urban-rural integration development. Several studies have explored the connotation, origin and functional positioning under the background of new urbanization and supply-side structural reform. This paper reviews recent studies centered on characteristic town, and also carries out the the analysis of keyword frequency data from the core journals of china national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) with the theme of ‘characteristic town’. Finally, the research concludes the research perspective, methods and contents, and presents suggestions on management efficiency, regional development, county planning, environmental ecology and capital utilization through literature analysis and practice summary.