Municipal Land Use Research Articles

Prospectiva territorial y la agenda 2030: Una fusión virtuosa para construir futuros

This work of reflection around the articulation of regional foresight studies and the 2030 Agenda, promoted by the United Nations Organization, through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It is based on a foresight experience developed in the Department of Guaymallén, Province of Mendoza, Argentina, proposed as a base study for the design of the municipal land use plan provided for in Law 8.051/2009. The article shows the general context for the design of planning instruments at the local level. Next, it presents the territorial dynamics considered most critical for the future to subsequently compare the desired scenario with the 17 SDGs. The research work included a bibliographic review of the main articulation proposals between regional foresight and the 2030 Agenda. Among the findings, the need to deepen the territorialization of the 2030 Agenda at the local government level stands out, and to anchor the planning processes for development, with a foresight vision of each SDG. Working on these concerns will allow the robustness of the foresight and its appropriation by the social actors of the territory.

Building the case for a bottom-up approach to SDI stakeholder collaboration – experiences from South Africa

Abstract. Inclusive governance remains a challenge for the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure (SASDI). This is evidenced through the limited participation of sub-national government in SASDI and the challenges they experience with access to fundamental geospatial data. The purpose of this paper is to make recommendations for enhancing the role of sub-national government and other users in SASDI. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from municipalities and the municipal land use application process was used as a case study. The interviews confirmed that municipalities are striving to operate efficiently, but that limited access to fundamental geospatial data constrains them. Based on the results, it is recommended that access to geospatial data be improved through an integrated approach to stakeholder collaboration, coordinated by the SASDI. Such collaboration would proactively pursue inclusive governance and could significantly improve access to fundamental geospatial datasets.

What hinders climate adaptation? Approaching barriers in municipal land use planning through participant observation

Climate change poses many risks and affects humans’ daily life in particular at local and regional level. Thus, spatial planning is a key instrument for adapting man’s environment to projected changes. It relies consequently on the competence of local governments to plan urban landscapes in a climate-adapted manner. However, despite the efforts undertaken, there are still significant barriers to appropriate implementation of climate adaptation measures in practice. This research documents barriers that occurred during a real planning process. The researchers worked within a German planning department over 1.5 years as climate adaptation managers to incorporate climate adaptation concerns into the planning of a new urban district and adjacent green area. Applying a participant observation approach, we focused on the reasons why planners would not or could not implement certain measures and what systemic conditions weaken climate adaptation in the planning process relative to other concerns. The study identifies three system-immanent reasons underlying the individual barriers: Organizational-structural, procedural and legal reasons. Within each of the three groups, we describe how individual barriers are interrelated or build on each other. The findings provide a deeper insight into the problem’s planners face in everyday planning. The weak position of climate adaptation in the weighting of planning objectives and the integration in optimized planning processes appeared as the main constraints. We expect these problems to be encountered in other cities with similar planning regulation and administrative structures.

Making the ropes: How daily practices in a booming periurban municipality become durable 'gray' institutions shaping land use

Predictable unwritten rules arguably are at the heart of all land development processes. How do these practices emerge and remain in local land governance? While municipal land use offices are increasingly one of the few remaining formal spaces for the state to review and negotiate legal urbanization in Mexico and many other contexts, literatures on implementation in local policy and development in Mexico and the South are nascent, and typically bypass both daily practices and municipal offices as arenas for meaningful institutional emergence or intervention. This article examines how land use officials developed and sustained a small set of repeating daily practices managing requests for development in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, a rapidly growing outskirt of Guadalajara, Mexico. A sociological-institutionalist approach draws on ethnographic and case study methodologies to examine material from over 40 interviews and 25 hours of observation in the land use permitting department of Tlajomulco as well as internal documents, official laws and plans, and media accounts. The resulting analysis suggests that Tlajomulco's land use officials developed and sustained a broad array of legal yet informal patterns of daily practice ('gray institutions') in part through an unusual fifteen-year period of relative staff continuity. The land use staff also took strategic actions to increase the strength of their gray institutions: these included maintaining discourses of valuing collective knowledge and pride in 'tinkering', promoting skills and abilities to engage with formal regulations, and mediating their relational networks through strategic downplaying of their power and knowledge. Centering institutionalized practices of local land use offices such as Tlajomulco -and outlining how they emerge and remain- can help planners better understand the processes of planning 'as it happens', chart arenas of localized innovation and improvisation, and expand the terrains of decentered planning knowledge and land use implementation.

Area Neutrality: safeguarding urban biodiversity with a new land management framework in Trondheim

Area neutrality is a municipal land use management system that prioritizes the protection of nature in urban development. This framework calls for first avoiding nature destruction, then reducing nature loss, and finally “replacing” natural lands that are developed for human use by restoring other areas. In effect, it extends the net-zero philosophy to the loss of nature. In this exploratory study, we consider the effects of implementing area neutrality in the municipal planning of Trondheim, Norway. The potential benefits of the framework are considered in terms of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Principles of urban ecology are applied to the framework so that positive ecological impacts are maximized. We conclude with a SWOT analysis of area neutrality in general and consideration of challenges for Trondheim Municipality specifically. This study provides an overview of a system which could be highly beneficial to both the urban and natural ecosystems of Trondheim and other areas if implemented responsibly.

"The Growing Suburban Sprawl in Large Latin American Cities: Applying Space Syntax to the Case of Northern Peripheral Region of Bogotá "

"The expansion of urban land in Latin American cities has been extensive over the last 30 years. Urbanisation has grown considerably, and, according to the United Nations, it is expected that approximately 70% of the population will live in large cities by the year 2050. This process leads to more complex urban relations, more intense suburbanisation, larger settlements in the peripheral areas of cities and, subsequently, a significant reduction of urban green infrastructure. The aim of this paper is to assess whether the expansion areas defined in different planning instruments generate urban inclusion and are aligned with the already consolidated urban area. The case study areas are represented by the municipalities of Chía and Cajicá in the northern suburbs of Bogotá city, which have a strong integration with the central city. The methodology integrates data from municipal land use plans and the spatial syntax method to visualise the effect of expansion on urban morphology. The results obtained show that Chía presents an area of greater integration than Cajicá, specifically the centre of the municipality, in which there is a high level of functionality with respect to the new expansion areas defined in the Master Plan. This study concludes that the new expansion areas should be developed on the central axes, where the highest integration values are located, and at a greater distance from natural elements such as rivers. Finally, the methodological approach can be replicated to analyse other urban areas and support decision-making on urban functionality and expansion.

Геоинформационное картографирование современного состояния сельскохозяйственных территорий Новоаннинского района Волгоградской области

Mapping and analysis of agricultural land is essential for developing strategies for regional land use. Official statistics do not always accurately reflect the quantitative and qualitative indicators of municipal land use structures. Geoinformation mapping methods based on Earth remote sensing data make it possible to most accurately determine the economic structure of a territory. Modern research on this topic has advanced enough to ensure high accuracy of mapping, but such data are not suitable for monitoring purposes. The purpose of this work is to map agricultural land (cultivated fields, fallows, hayfields) on the territory of the Novoanninsky district of the Volgograd region. The article sequentially describes the stages of mapping: initial data, the process of mapping, selection features. A mapping technique based on the use of ultra-high spatial resolution data with verification using high-resolution data is described in detail. An analysis of the main sown areas in the district according to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service (FSGS) was compiled. The increased accuracy of the data obtained corresponds to the goals and objectives of the State Program Effective involvement in the circulation of agricultural land and the development of the reclamation complex. Based on the described methodology, more than 2,500 spatial objects with a total area of more than 215,000 hectares were mapped in the study area. Actual sown area data was compared with official figures. A significant difference of 26.4% was found. The statistics are greatly underestimated. Presumably, this is due to the peculiarities of maintaining statistics, cadastral registration, as well as the concealment of actual data by land users themselves.

Planning for wooden multistorey construction – insights from Finland's municipal civil servants

ABSTRACT Municipalities across Finland are promoting wooden multistorey construction as a low-carbon alternative for building construction. However, do attitudes towards implementing these alternatives stem from the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions or because these alternatives are perceived to improve local economies? This research employs a survey to collects the attitudes of Finnish municipal civil servants towards implementing wooden multistorey buildings in their municipalities. The respondents represent a mix of administrative professionals such as planners, real estate managers, building inspectors and other strategic managerial professionals (n = 273, 8% response rate). Their responses reflect views from approximately 8% of all municipal civil servants working on municipal land use and planning issues during 2019. The findings reveal attitudes towards implementing wooden multistorey buildings are engendered by fulfilling ecological development, economic development, technical quality and output efficiency goals. Furthermore, comparing municipal planners to other municipal administrators reveals dissimilar planning logics. Municipal planners holistically prioritize the project's ecological and economic development outcomes. Other administrators chiefly prioritize economic development outcomes. Hence, some municipal administrators may value wooden multistorey construction primarily as an activity to improve municipal vitality rather than as a holistic spatial planning solution. Future research should identify whether these divergences lead to planning tensions within municipal administrations.

Declining land for subsistence and small-scale farming in South Africa: A case study of Thulamela local municipality

In Thulamela Local Municipality, South Africa, competing land use activities such as urbanisation and subsistence farming have accelerated rapid, widespread changes in land use and land cover (LULC) with potential negative impacts on subsistence and small-scale farming, food security, and sustainable rural livelihoods. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the decline in land available for subsistence and small-scale farming in the Thulamela Local Municipality. A post-classification comparison approach was performed using three Landsat images from 2005, 2013 and 2020 in order to quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of LULC in the study area. The land use management system and applicable land use policies were examined to gain an understanding of the factors driving LULC. The results showed a general decline in agricultural land with a general increase in built-up areas. Land under Agricultural Fallow shrank from 26% to 8% with a 69% decline in extent while the extent of Grass reduced from 22% to 16%. The study has shown that the decline in agricultural land and its conversion to built-up areas can be attributed to ineffective land use management system, which is less protective of land for subsistence and small-scale farming in rural areas characterised customary land tenure rights. The land use scheme’s generalisation of vacant and unsurveyed land as agricultural use zone makes it difficult to oppose development on productive agricultural land currently used for subsistence and small-scale farming in rural areas. Therefore, the study recommends that suitable agricultural land or land currently used for subsistence and small-scale farming should be clearly categorised as arable use zone from municipal land use schemes in order to ensure sustainable utilisation and protection of arable land for agricultural purposes. Measures should also be taken to secure tenure rights for subsistence farmers in order to curb the widespread conversion of agricultural land into built-up areas.

Who Owns the City, and Why Should We Care?

Who owns the city, and why is it important to know? The city constantly makes decisions that affect municipal residents regarding municipal services, land use, and financing. The cost is often linked directly to the municipal residents, but the benefits of some decisions directly affect the property owners and only indirectly affect the municipal residents. On the other hand, the property owners can be residents in the city or the country, but they can also be foreign property owners. Therefore, the distribution of costs will differ from the distribution of benefits. The study aims to investigate and analyse real estate owners in some focus areas in the Stockholm municipality in terms of nationality, patterns of real estate usage, area of properties, and the nature of ownership.

Improving efficiency in Finnish public land use processes – regulatory change and digitalisation in focus

The efficiency of the public sector is a major discussion topic internationally. The discussion often refers to a need to review, renew, or reform public regulation in an attempt to balance the public economy, citizens’ needs, digitalisation, and sustainable use of resources. For example, Finland aims to redesign built environment regulation and promote digitalisation both on local and national levels, while balancing efficiency needs. This paper explores the potential to improve public land use processes through enhancing efficiency in the building permit process. The paper studies possible solutions based on the case development processes of two Finnish cities, and reflects them on a nationwide context by interviewing key persons in municipal land use management. Based on the findings, the challenges in achieving efficiency lie on the complexity of processes, public sector’s management, organisational culture, and needs of co-operation in multiple levels. Especially problematic is the unpredictability of the process, possibly outweighing the tangible benefits of the development. Digitalisation, including the use of data models and 3D BIM in automatisation, interaction, and knowledge management, is anticipated to aid the efficiency of the land use and building permit processes the long run. Findings suggests that, to emphasise the development in land use and building permit processes, fostering a new way of thinking and redesigning the public sector’s operating model is essential. The redesign should focus on more strategic management, and a new mindset for designing and conducting public processes. A successful new operating model and a renewed mindset would enable the adaptation of regulatory renewal, digitalisation, as well as sustainable use of resources.

Normative practices of property rating in Ghana: towards improving policy on rating undeveloped urban lands in secondary cities

PurposeThe paper examined how local authorities have attempted to rate undeveloped land as a means of mobilising revenues and the challenges associated with implementing this policy guideline. It focused on current practices in terms of policy and administration, the availability of undeveloped urban land, its revenue potential, and ways to improve policy for local land taxation.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from the mixed-method approach both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Officials of the Wa Municipal Assembly, Lands Commission, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority were purposely selected based on their knowledge and the roles they play in property rating practice. They were interviewed to understand their perceptions and views on rating undeveloped lands. Stratified proportionate and simple random sampling methods were used to select respondents. The respondents included land and landed property owners in three selected neighbourhoods.FindingsThe paper found that there was the prevalence of undeveloped lands mainly held by speculators and individuals constrained by financial challenges to develop their parcels. The Wa Municipal Assembly is unable to implement the policy guideline on charging rent on undeveloped lands due to lack of adequate information and generally unwillingness to implement this provision. Besides, the current guideline is too prohibitive and cannot be implemented in its current form. However, there is a window of opportunity for the Assembly to build data on undeveloped lands and moderately begin the implementation of the policy guideline.Practical implicationsUrban growth in Ghana is characterised by leapfrog development with many patches of undeveloped land in and around cities. The property taxation policies largely do not focus on undeveloped land or unimproved site value. In Ghana, property rate policy on the tax base excludes undeveloped land. However, government policy guidelines prescribe the charging of rent on these lands by local authorities. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion on the revenue potential of undeveloped urban land and why local government authorities have not been able to harness this potential. The paper has therefore recommended ways local authorities can use to mobilise revenue from undeveloped urban land.Originality/valueThere is limited research in rating undeveloped urban land especially looking at it from the perspective of policy and implementation as well as current practices. The paper shed light on the prevalence of undeveloped urban land and the guidelines that exist help local governments mobilise revenue from these lands. It contributes to the understanding that local government can harness the revenue potential of undeveloped land if policy design and implemented regarding these lands is enhanced. The paper also provides a good background and framework for further studies.

Integration of Policy Decision Making for Sustainable Land Use within Cities

Local land use policies can shape the sustainability of urban systems, but integrated land use at the local level is challenging since it requires the coordination of multiple semi-independent agencies within cities to effectively address collective actions problems and overcome functional divisions. Although this problem is widely acknowledged, systematic examination of what factors are related to internal coordination of land use functions is lacking. This research investigates what influences the extent to which cities coordinate across functional areas to promote integrative land use decision making. I address this question by first describing a conceptual framework drawing from institutional collective action (ICA) perspectives to understand internal city collaboration across policy functions. I then advance explanations linking institutions and community characteristics to the degree of coordination in municipal land use. Using a 2015 survey of 1124 U.S. cities, I test the hypothesized relationships based on the functional institutional collective action framework. The findings reveal that political institutions, city operation of utilities, elected officials support, and fiscal capacity increase coordination. In conclusion the implications of the findings for theory and land use planning research are discussed.

Are Simultaneously Decided Referenda Substitutable? Evidence from Municipal Land Use Ballot Measures

Are Simultaneously Decided Referenda Substitutable? Evidence from Municipal Land Use Ballot Measures

Are Simultaneously Decided Referenda Substitutable? Evidence from Municipal Land Use Ballot Measures

Matthew Gammans, Associate Professor Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing; gammansm{at}msu.edu

How to achieve parsimonious urban land use: The Case of Greater Zurich

ABSTRACT Land use regulations in Switzerland do not meet the requirements of the spatial planning act (SPA) in their guidance for parsimonious land use. If parsimonious land use is to be achieved, urban economic theories and price-based regulations must be leveraged to determine the intensity and balance of land use. Therefore, an urban information system to project and guide for parsimonious land use was developed. The GIS spatial analysis instrument presented in this paper is intended as a decision-making aid in the reform of the land use regulations, in particular metropolitan, cantonal and regional structure plans and municipal land use plans. By intensifying and better balancing land use at locations adequately accessed by public transport, land can be used parsimoniously. However, the projection results are not a self-fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, to guide for parsimonious land use regulations need to change from normative, static and exclusionary to context-dependent, conditional, dynamic and inclusionary ones. The next step is to develop a system of fees and codes to internalize negative externalities of building and transport and to collect public revenue from economic and agglomeration rents.

Flexible Zoning and Mixed Use in Seoul, Korea

Zoning has long been criticized for its negative effects and has been taken for granted that zoning works as a hurdle to urban diversity. Responses in the US have emphasized more fine-grained zoning approaches that plan mixed use. This paper introduces and evaluates Seoul’s zoning system as a possible alternative. While US zoning regulations have relied on distinguishing ever larger numbers of land use zoning categories, Seoul has opted to integrate new land uses into existing classifications, allowing for greater flexibility of use in each zone. Using municipal building records to evaluate land use in three mid-density residential districts, this paper demonstrates that Seoul’s flexible zoning is capable of producing diverse mixed use neighborhoods. It then highlights the potential downside of this approach, showing that flexibility allows for the commercialization and sectoral gentrification of residential districts. It concludes by suggesting that a combination of flexible zones and more fine-grained plans would capture the advantages of both US and Korean planning.

An exploration of land use and poverty as an integrative model for mitigating Chagas disease in El Salvador

Chagas disease is a neglected tropical parasitic disease that is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and that is transmitted by several insect vectors in the subfamily Triatominae. Research studies suggest that the vector ecology of Chagas disease may be impacted by anthropogenic changes to natural habitats. The objective of this study was to characterize linkages between poverty levels and diverse land use practices throughout El Salvador. Working at the municipal level, we used geographic information systems (GIS) to intersect map-layers containing land use types and poverty index values. The resulting intersect map was used to characterize the alpha-diversity of different agricultural, natural, and mixed land use types. We found that the richness, diversity, and evenness of municipal land use types changed with municipal poverty-level, size, population density, and population sex ratio. We also detected that changes in green space, natural landscapes, and agricultural landscapes correlated with municipal sociodemographic considerations. Given the broad exploratory connections between the vector ecology of Triatominae and the socio-demographics of land use practices, we propose that a multidisciplinary approach will be more effective in mitigating Chagas disease in El Salvador.

Nature Conservation, Land Use Planning and Exploitation of Ornamental Stones - The Case Study of Cabeça Veada (Portugal)

Cabeça Veadais the name of a relatively small exploitation cluster for ornamental limestones occupying an area of 98 ha in the Portuguese Natural Park of Serra de Aire e Candeeiros, which is also a Natura 2000 Network protected area. Supported by comprehensive geological, mining and environmental studies, a specific methodology was developed in order to address the compatibility between the long term sustainability of this industry with the preservation of existing protected natural values. The obtained land use map should allow theCabeça Veadamineral resources to be adequately included in the municipal land use planning process.

Polityka zagospodarowania przestrzennego miasta jako czynnik wpływający na dezorientację przestrzenną w lotnictwie

Polityka zagospodarowania przestrzennego miasta jako czynnik wpływający na dezorientację przestrzenną w lotnictwie