Tool For Land Use Planning Research Articles

Validation of vulnerability mapping methods by field investigations and numerical modelling

Vulnerability maps illustrate the potential threat of contaminants to groundwater and can be considered as important tools for land-use planning and related legislation. For karst areas with characteristic preferential infiltration conditions, vulnerability maps are also excellent tools for source and resource protection. However, the resulting qualitative maps are often inconsistent and even contradictive and thus might lead to inconclusive vulnerability assessments. The results of a validation of vulnerability maps produced using four different methods, DRASTIC, GLA, PI and EPIK, are reported for a karst area in southwest Germany. By means of measured hydraulic and transport parameters of the geological sequence, numerical simulations were used based on a conceptual model for the area under study. The mean transit time through the unsaturated zone (resource protection) was used as the validation parameter. The study demonstrates that the highest level of accuracy is achieved with the GLA- and PI methods. Both DRASTIC and EPIK are not able to incorporate highly variable distributions and thickness of cover sediments and their protective properties in the respective mapping procedure. Thus, vulnerability maps produced with DRASTIC, EPIK, and related methods should be used with care when employed in vulnerability assessments for land use planning and related decision-making.

HABITAT CLASSIFICATION MODELING WITH INCOMPLETE DATA: PUSHING THE HABITAT ENVELOPE

Habitat classification models (HCMs) are invaluable tools for species conservation, land-use planning, reserve design, and metapopulation assessments, particularly at broad spatial scales. However, species occurrence data are often lacking and typically limited to presence points at broad scales. This lack of absence data precludes the use of many statistical techniques for HCMs. One option is to generate pseudo-absence points so that the many available statistical modeling tools can bb used. Traditional techniques generate pseudo-absence points at random across broadly defined species ranges, often failing to include biological knowledge concerning the species-habitat relationship. We incorporated biological knowledge of the species-habitat relationship into pseudo-absence points by creating habitat envelopes that constrain the region from which points were randomly selected. We define a habitat envelope as an ecological representation of a species, or species feature's (e.g., nest) observed distribution (i.e., realized niche) based on a single attribute, or the spatial intersection of multiple attributes. We created HCMs for Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) nest habitat during the breeding season across Utah forests with extant nest presence points and ecologically based pseudo-absence points using logistic regression. Predictor variables were derived from 30-m USDA Landfire and 250-m Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) map products. These habitat-envelope-based models were then compared to null envelope models which use traditional practices for generating pseudo-absences. Models were assessed for fit and predictive capability using metrics such as kappa, threshold-independent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots, adjusted deviance (D(adj)2), and cross-validation, and were also assessed for ecological relevance. For all cases, habitat envelope-based models outperformed null envelope models and were more ecologically relevant, suggesting that incorporating biological knowledge into pseudo-absence point generation is a powerful tool for species habitat assessments. Furthermore, given some a priori knowledge of the species-habitat relationship, ecologically based pseudo-absence points can be applied to any species, ecosystem, data resolution, and spatial extent.

Integrating stream bioassessment and landscape ecology as a tool for land use planning

Summary1. Bioassessment has evolved significantly from a method of deciding whether an ecosystem exposed to stressors should ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ (or how badly it fails). Society wants some notion of what has caused any observed degradation of ecosystems, and what management strategies might improve degraded ecosystems. Managers also want to predict what negative or positive effects different land use strategies will have on the component ecosystems of a landscape, including lakes and streams.2. Here we illustrate an approach to providing these tools to managers with data from a bioassessment study of streams in the Fraser River Basin of British Columbia, Canada.3. Landscape scale descriptors of both the natural (e.g. catchment size, surficial geology) and stressor (e.g. hard rock mines, forest harvest) environment of each site were used to define the natural and stressor environments of each of the 242 stream sites.4. We classified 206 reference (relatively unexposed to human activity) sites using their benthic macroinvertebrate community composition, and then discriminated among the faunally defined groups with landscape scale descriptors of the natural environment of the sites.5. This discriminant function model allowed us to predict which group each of the test sites would be in if it were in reference condition, and then measure the relationship between the amount of human activity and the biota in each of these groups.6. These relationships were turned into projections of what will happen to a stream ecosystem's biota if the stressor environment is either improved or degraded. These projection models form the basis of evidence‐based land use planning that takes into account the health of freshwater ecosystems.

A Review of Rural Land-Use Planning Models

In this paper, different land-use planning models have been reviewed; within this review, techniques and methodologies with different objectives, applications, and land uses have been identified. The existing literature in this field is dispersed throughout different subjects, such as planning, geographical information systems (GIS), decisionmaking, or computer systems. The compilation, analysis, and comparison of the different models have allowed us to draw a series of conclusions for the development and implementation of strategic plans for rural land use. Because GIS have become an essential tool in rural land-use planning, special attention has been paid to the models and methods integrated into GIS.

Using geographic information to identify environmental resources: A tool for land use planning

Environmental Quality ManagementVolume 16, Issue 1 p. 59-68 Features Using geographic information to identify environmental resources: A tool for land use planning A. Gharagozlou, A. Gharagozlou agharagozlu@yahoo.com Research Institute of the National Cartographic Center, IranSearch for more papers by this authorM. Abbaspour, M. Abbaspour m-abbaspour@jamejam.net Azad University, Tehran, IranSearch for more papers by this author A. Gharagozlou, A. Gharagozlou agharagozlu@yahoo.com Research Institute of the National Cartographic Center, IranSearch for more papers by this authorM. Abbaspour, M. Abbaspour m-abbaspour@jamejam.net Azad University, Tehran, IranSearch for more papers by this author First published: 21 September 2006 https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.20111AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume16, Issue1Autumn (Fall) 2006Pages 59-68 RelatedInformation

Combining deliberative and computer-based methods for multi-objective land-use planning

This paper reports the outcomes of a deliberative workshop comparing land-use plans proposed by land-manager or domain experts with those derived using a computer-based decision support system (DSS). The DSS integrates four main components, a geographic information system, land-use systems simulation models, impact assessments and land-use planning tools. The land-use planning tools draw on the other components to generate and evaluate alternative patterns of land use and management. Since the land-use planning tools are based on multi-objective genetic algorithms (mGAs) it is possible to generate a range of alternative plans that define the structure of the trade-off between the objectives. The workshop tasked the delegates with specifying land-use plans that achieved the best compromise between two objectives known to be non-commensurable and conflicting. The nature of the best compromise was dependent on their individual perspectives. The delegates proposed allocations both as individuals and in researcher-facilitated sub-groups. The mGA allocations were then compared with those derived by delegates and were found to be broadly similar in performance. Differences in the range of allocations considered feasible were explained by the hard and soft constraints on allocations agreed between the delegates and articulated within the workshop process. The hypothesis that part of the difference in performance between the mGA and delegate allocations was due to the delegates blocking together fields with the same land use for convenience of management was proved. The analysis of the group allocations revealed that the decision-making process had failed to improve on the individual allocations. From these results it was concluded that there was a potential role for mGA based land-use planning tools in researching into, and deliberating on, the possible impacts of policy or other factors affecting land-use systems. It was further concluded that the tools should not be used in isolation since there was the need for stake-holder inputs to adequately define the range of feasible and practical land-use plans.

RAPELD: a modification of the Gentry method for biodiversity surveys in long-term ecological research sites

Our objectives were to develop a method that would be appropriate for long-term ecological studies, but that would permit rapid surveys to evaluate biotic complementarity and land-use planning in Amazonia. The Amazon basin covers about 7 million km². Therefore, even a sparse coverage, with one sample site per 10.000 km², would require about 700 sampling sites. Financial considerations limit the number of sites and investment at each site, but incomplete coverage makes evaluation of biotic complementarity difficult or impossible (Reddy & Dávalos 2003). Our next challenge is to install similar systems throughout Amazonia. The cost, based on modification of Al Gentry's original design is moderate (less than US$ 50.000 per site if it is not necessary to immediately identify all vascular plants in plots) and we can obtain RAP results for most taxa in the short term at much lower cost. However, biological surveys will only be relevant if the local people participate and the surveys serve as much to teach the local communities about the value of their natural resources as they serve to teach the international community about biodiversity. Therefore, we want to see each site run as a long-term ecological research project by local people and institutions. Biological surveys are an important tool in land-use planning, but only the local people can implement those plans.

Transportation Impact Statement (TIS)—A New Tool for Transportation and Land-Use Planning

The authors advance a new approach to transportation and land-use planning: the transportation impact statement (TIS). Current planning practice suffers from a lack of understanding of and adequate tools to evaluate the complex relationships that exist between land use and transportation. Consequently, land-use development frequently overloads the transportation system. A TIS exposes the complex interdependencies with a multimodal and regional assessment of the impact of land-use development on the transportation system. The authors offer a theoretical background for this new approach and an empirical illustration of its potential use through a case study based on the city of Haifa in Israel. The objective of the study is to investigate the local and regional transport-related impacts of proposed land developments, thus improving the planning decisionmaking process. The impact of the proposed land developments on the transportation system was studied utilizing several transportation scenarios, including travel-demand management (TDM) strategies, using the metropolitan database and travel-demand modeling systems. The results show that the total number of trips generated by the proposed land developments is by far inconsistent with the capacity of the transportation network to accommodate all the forecasted demands under all transport scenarios. These results have a number of implications. First, TIS clearly improves our understanding of the impact of land development on the transportation system, and thus it should be utilized in decisionmaking regarding land-development strategy. Second, TIS stresses the importance of transit and TDM strategies as mitigation measures in the planning process. Third, TIS illustrates the need for a wider (that is, not site-related) planning perspective—including setting overall metropolitan goals and objectives.

Qualitative hydrological and land-use planning tool for the Israel Coastal aquifer

Due to a variety of past and present land-usages on the aquifer ground surface, appropriate groundwater management should consider anthropogenic activities on the ground surface and the potential of unsaturated zone media to convey water and pollutants to the aquifer. The objective of this paper is to present an approach which generates guidelines and recommendations which can lead to sustainable development. This method assesses the lithological characteristics of the aquifer's vadose zone, indicating potential rechargeability, while weighting factors leading to potential groundwater pollution resulting from some land-use. Recommendations regarding land-use planning and aquifer recharge can then provide a qualitative ecological tool towards sustainable groundwater management. Owing to its location, its critical significance to the country's fresh water supply, and its available field data, Israel's Coastal aquifer is employed here as the study area for implementation of this approach.

The Area Production Model: A tool and concept for sustainable land-use and forest-resource management

In developing countries, planning in the forestry sector has been seen as an appropriate instrument to prepare and implement government policies and programs. Despite its potential and recent advancements in, for example, remote sensing and infrastructure, tropical forest land-use planning is often formal and non-integrated with agriculture. It rarely involves all legitimate stakeholders and neglects taking into account actual land-use. The socio-economic and environmental consequences of these shortcomings emphasise the need for alternative ways of approaching planning. This article summarises the idea, structure and current status of the Area Production Model (APM), originally developed in the 1980s, which is now gaining interest as a land-use planning tool in Africa and Asia. It describes the development over time of production and consumption in agriculture and forestry within a defined geographical area operating under different assumptions on management, land use and socio-economic and macro-economic changes. From a narrow perspective, the APM is a fairly simple computerised tool for generating scenarios. In a broad sense, it is a concept comprising the whole planning process including organisation, inventory, data analysis, consensus building and strategy. A case-study in Laos, based on verified data for a historical period of 45 years, and a review of different APM applications in the world over the last 15 years are presented as a base for conclusions about its potential and shortcomings. In some cases where the APM concept was used in training courses and planning exercises involving stakeholders, it generated a strong interest in collecting and analysing relevant information. It provides the means of addressing a number of shortcomings in current planning.

Remote sensing and GIS-based regional geomorphological mapping—a tool for land use planning in developing countries

Land use planning and necessary supporting data are crucial to developing countries that are usually under severe environmental and demographic strains. Approaches and methods to map the variability of natural resources are important tools to properly guide spatial planning. In this paper, we describe a method to quickly map terrain at reconnaissance (1:250,000) and semi-detailed (1:50,000) levels. This method can be utilized as a basis for further land evaluation and land use planning in large territories. The approach was tested in the state of Michoacan, central-western Mexico, currently undergoing rapid deforestation and subsequent land degradation. Results at the reconnaissance level describe the geographic distribution of major landforms and dominant land cover, and provide a synoptic inventory of natural resources. Results at the semi-detailed level indicate how to nest individual landforms to major units and how they can be used to run procedures for land evaluation. If combined with appropriate socioeconomic data, governmental guidelines for land use planning can be formulated on the basis of reconnaissance and semi-detailed terrain analysis.

Integrated land evaluation to generate risk-efficient land-use options in a coastal catchment

Abstract Current methods of agricultural land evaluation in Australia suffer from a number of weakness that limit their usefulness as a tool for land-use planning. An integrated method of land evaluation that generates biophysical and economic measures of land performance using crop yield prediction, expert systems and risk analysis is introduced. The method can be described as an economic approach to land evaluation. This paper reports on the use of the method to generate risk-efficient land-use options in a tropical coastal catchment. Utilizing stochastic dominance analysis, the effect of a range of risk preferences on land-use option selection is examined. Four typical land-use planning scenarios are presented that demonstrate the usefulness of the method.

The Economics of Eyesores

Few economic analyses exist of aesthetics regulation, an important tool for land-use planning. This paper uses simple geometry to calculate the Pareto-efficient height of an eyesore as well as its efficient distance from areas frequented by viewers. The paper provides a formula for a two-part Pigouvian tax to control eyesores as well as guidelines for its calculation. A tax is often more likely than conventional zoning instruments to enhance efficiency in the control of smoke plumes, signs, high-rises, and towers. As a more politically attractive alternative to the full compensation that eyesore laws mandate today, the paper recommends lump-sum compensation.

Integrated Land Evaluation as an Aid to Land Use Planning in Northern Australia

Current methods of agricultural land evaluation in use in Australia suffer from a number of inherent deficiencies that limit their usefulness as a tool for land use planning. A framework is presented whereby both biophysical and economic factors affecting land use are included in the one assessment. The method integrates biophysical and economic data to produce estimates of crop yield, net returns to land physical land suitability using an expert system. These estimates can be readily computed, updated and extended to land managers. The method also aims to estimate the probability of achieving a given net return to land. The method was applied at two different scales (1:100 000 and 1:5000) for four different land uses in the Herbert River district of North Queensland. The results indicated that a quantitative measure of economic performance could be obtained for a very large number of spatially diverse mapping units for the range of land uses examined. The method provides the facility for objective comparison of mapping units both between and within land uses. The presence of an improved information base can have a positive impact on land use planning activities. Activities such as land use conflict resolution and industry planning can benefit from the provision of economic suitability data. Importantly, the additional data provide the planner or decision maker with an added degree of flexibility. As such, the integrated methodology provides a significant advance on the existing methodology.

Wetland protection as land-use planning: The impact of section 404 in Wisconsin, USA

The ability of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act to act as an effective, efficient, and equitable land-use planning tool was assessed through a survey of Section 404 permits in Wisconsin. In a six-month period of permitting, the 404 program reduced wetland losses in the state by 15%. Several factors were examined that may affect permit decisions; these factors are water dependency, alternatives, project type, wetland type, and public or agency comments. Only the water dependency of the project had a statistically significant effect on permit decisions, although development projects that were perceived to provide public good were more likely to be permitted. Environmental impacts of a proposed fill project were not adequately assessed in any of the permit decisions. Because of the way Section 404 is interpreted and administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers, increasing net benefits and achieving an equitable distribution of those benefits is difficult. The corps does not perform any functional evaluations of wetlands nor do they attempt to measure economic value and environmental impacts. In addition, the 404 review process is, in effect, inaccessible to the public. The de facto interpretations of the Section 404 regulations and a lack of program funding and trained personnel all contribute to the program's ineffectiveness.

A fuzzy-group multicriteria decisionmaking model and its application to land-use planning

Making decisions in planning has three prominent characteristics: multicriteria, multiparticipants, and fuzziness. A model that deals with these three properties simultaneously is presented as a promising tool for land-use planning, and its potential usefulness in group decisionmaking and for building expert systems is discussed.

Multiple-resource modeling as a tool for conservation: Its applicability in Mexico

The current Mexican environmental law provides the legal basis for comprehensive land-use planning. Under the law, development of natural ecosystems must combine goals, policies, and practices towards the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of biological diversity. Thus, ecosystem manipulation must be able to counter fragmentation of natural ecosystems and isolation of natural reserves, while providing for human needs. Assessment of the potential of natural ecosystems and management impacts are required. Multiple-resource simulation is an assessment and land-use planning tool that permits managers and decision makers to comply with the law, providing a flexible, user-oriented system that can meet the needs of managers, conservationists, and researchers. A multiple-resource model and an example of how it can be applied to meet planning needs is presented for discussion.

Thematic geological mapping as an essential tool in land-use planning

Abstract There are many competing requirements for the use of land in the densely populated British Isles. Options are constrained by existing development, economics, the need to safeguard the environment and to reclaim damaged land, and the pressure for urban renewal. Land use planners attempt to balance the various issues and requirements and to identify the best possible solution. Geology, geotechnics, geomorphology, hydrogeology and related sciences can provide essential information on additional constraints to development (such as land instability, poor foundation conditions, active erosion and deposition, likelihood of land or water contamination, flooding and seismicity) and resources for development (including mineral and water resources, usable underground space and good foundation conditions). Recognition of these factors permits safer, more cost-effective planning and development and allows rational decisions to be taken on the exploitation or sterilization of the Earth’s resources. However, few planners and administrators have any training in these relevant sciences. Thematic geology mapping provides an important means of communicating facts and interpretations to planners but only if the results are presented in ways which can be readily understood and appreciated by non-specialists. The communication gap can only be bridged if earth scientists and planners cooperate in designing methods of map presentation.

Quantified land evaluation (QLE) procedures, a new tool for land-use planning.

Qantified Land Evaluation (QLE) procedures have been developed by the Centre for World Food Studies in Amsterdam to assist planners to devise better development strategies which aim at sustainable agricultural production. They use concepts as defined in the FAO Framework on Land Evaluation (1976). Land evaluation is shown to concern not only the technical aspects of agricultural production but also the socioeconomic, political and other conditions under which production takes place in existing or projected land use systems. The QLE approach presented is part of a much wider analytical framework that supports the development of national food policies. The paper discusses the following factors as related to the new procedure: the production situation, the simulation procedure, regional analysis, and application of quantified land evaluation procedures. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

An appraisal of inter-disciplinary resource surveys (ecological land classification)

This paper presents an appraisal of the inter-disciplinary or “ecological land classification” approach to resource surveys. Recently evolved, this approach has been used widely in Canada as a land-use planning tool for northern environments, national parks and other relatively large and unaltered areas. A brief review of principles and concepts related to resource surveys and an outline of the development of the inter-disciplinary approach is followed by an evaluation of its major strengths and weaknesses for planning purposes. Six appraisal criteria are used: economy; flexibility; replicability; ecological validity; communicability; applicability. Major strengths of the approach include: (a) potential time and money savings through logistical integration of field data collection; (b) hierarchial data-acquisition and analysis applicable to a variety of geographic areas and mapping scales; (c) standardized procedures used to collect baseline data; (d) nested data facilitating computer storage and analysis. Major weaknesses of the approach include: (a) difficulty in incorporating wildlife (data; (b) lack of precisely defined classification criteria; (c) over-emphasis on physical features in delineating land units; (d) potentially useful baseline information lost in producing single map product; (e) lack of collection and integration of human-ecological and land-use information. Based on the results of this appraisal, the authors conclude that many of the weaknesses of the interdisciplinary approach are created by imposing the ecosystem concept on the classification process. To help circumvent these weaknesses, several design modifications are recommended which take into account both the confines of human knowledge concerning ecosystem definition as well as the practical needs of possible users.