Regional Comprehensive Planning Research Articles

Change and Prediction of Water Purification Function in the South Bank of Hangzhou Bay in the Past 20 Years

The investigation of regional water purification functionality and its influencing factors holds significant pragmatic implications in understanding the potential of regional water purification, guiding context-specific regional comprehensive planning schemes, and environmental conservation measures. The study site, situated along the southern coast of Hangzhou Bay, represents a prototypical region characterized by intricate land-sea interactions that bear substantial economic and ecological functions. By assimilating a meticulously collected topographical and land-use dataset, in conjunction with site-specific meteorological records, the water purification model embedded within the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trade-offs (InVEST) framework was employed to scrutinize the spatiotemporal dynamics of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads, discharges, and removals within the southern coast of Hangzhou Bay. The prime objective of this study was to unravel the differentials in water purification functionality under diverse developmental scenarios. The investigation unearthed distinct temporal discrepancies in N and P discharges and removals over two temporal dimensions. Relative to the benchmark year 2000, the total N load experienced a reduction of 276.72 t, whereas the N discharge and removals decreased by 140.86 and 137.86 t, respectively, in the year 2020. In contrast, the total P load observed an increase of 93.65 t, accompanied by a surge in P discharge and removals by 28.91 and 64.74 t, respectively. Spatially, the distribution pattern of N and P discharges exhibited a general inclination of elevated values in the northern region and subdued values in the southern region, with certain pockets in the southern region exhibiting pronounced peaks, intimately associated with land-use typologies. Simulation analyses conducted under distinct scenarios unveiled that under the natural development priority scenario, the N and P discharges within the study area amounted to 1 682.36 and 115.50 t, respectively. Conversely, under the scenario emphasizing economic development, the regional N and P discharges showed an approximate escalation of 83.02% and 79.93%, correspondingly. In contrast, under the scenario emphasizing environmental conservation, the regional N and P discharges exhibited a notable decline of approximately 79.96% and 56.44%, respectively. Hence, the scenario prioritizing the amalgamation of environmental conservation and development effectively reduced the N and P discharges within the region, bolstering the water purification functionality. The results derived from this study furnish a solid theoretical foundation for effectuating region-specific planning schemes fostering coordinated economic and ecological advancement within the study area.

Projecting future land use/land cover by integrating drivers and plan prescriptions: the case for watershed applications

Watershed planning is a pivotal exercise for all jurisdictions irrespective of size, landscape complexity, or other nuances. As a result of the intricate relationship between land use/land cover (LULC) and water resources, it becomes prudent to not only develop historical and contemporary LULC data for watershed planning purposes, but more importantly, the production of future LULC datasets has the potential to better inform watershed planners. This study explored an optimal workflow that can be adopted for the production of baseline LULC input images from a moderate spatial resolution sensor such as Landsat, and the identification, translation, and configuration of land change drivers and regional comprehensive plan prescriptions in the creation of future LULC data for a regional watershed. The study conducted in the Lower Chippewa River Watershed, Wisconsin, USA demonstrated that an object-based hybrid classification approach resulted in the generation of improved projected images with a 15% increase in area under the curve (AUC) value compared to a pixel-based hybrid classification method even though both methods displayed comparable overall image classification accuracies (≤ 1.8%). Results further displayed that configuring anthropogenic drivers in a trend format rather than individual year values can result in a more efficient training of a multi-layer perceptron neural network – Markov Chain model. The calibrated and validated model demonstrated that on average, residential, commercial, institutional, green vegetation/shrub, and industrial LULC are expected to grow through 2050, though at a slower rate (12%) compared to contemporary period (39%), while forest and agricultural lands are slated to decline (−2%).

A05 Making HIAs more digestible: Bite-Sized Lessons Learned from HIAs Linking Transportation & Health in the Southern United States

BackgroundThis presentation articulates what Health Impact Assessment means for transportation planning in the United States. It showcases lessons learned through six HIAs linking health with transportation and regional planning. While much of the buzz about Health Impact Assessment in the United States has posed it as an emerging trend with great promise, there remain challenges among local and state agencies in their understanding of HIA and willingness to engage in the process. Acceptance of HIA findings varied among agencies. HIA in PracticeThis paper/presentation addresses how six Health Impact Assessments conducted primarily in the southern United States encountered challenges related to data collection/evaluation, creating partnerships, overcoming interagency barriers, and changing community conversations about health and transportation. It chronicles how HIAs can be applied in a variety of land use contexts. The HIAs are:•Wake County (North Carolina) Northeast Area Transportation Study•Southwestern Commission (Western North Carolina) Regional Comprehensive Plan•Robbinsville (North Carolina) Pedestrian Plan•Haywood County (North Carolina) Bicycle Plan•Buncombe County (North Carolina) Greenways & Trails Master Plan•Blaine County (Idaho) Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan Fitting the contextThe varied contexts in which these HIAs have been conducted, including population base, local political climate, governance structure, involvement of health organizations, geography, and availability of data, led to creation of various methods to address the six steps of HIA. They revealed varying levels of interest among government agencies related to degree of engagement in the process and how the findings were utilized. Some efforts began with the goal of conducting an HIA but were reduced in scope due to differences of opinion among lead agencies as to the ultimate findings and efficacy of the HIA. Lessons LearnedThe availability of data and degree to which data from the health sector aligned with common datasets in the transportation sectors posed challenges. There are few datasets for public health that have information available at a US Census tract level. Each HIA utilized data related to social determinants of health to identify hot spots of high prevalence of poor health conditions. Some HIAs have utilized additional data obtained from the North Carolina’s Center for Health Statistics, but utility of this data was limited depending on the geographic scale of HIA. The other key lessoned learned is that four out of the six HIAs received funding from non-health-based funding sources, which is rare in the United States.

Urban sprawl management, smart growth: challenges from the implementation phase

In the mid-90s in the USA, the smart growth movement emerged, promoting a blended approach to urban sprawl management. This paper aims to explore the potential of smart growth to contribute in the achievement of effective urban sprawl management. To do that, it investigates the incentive-based, regionally-led approach undertaken in the San Diego region. In this example, a regional comprehensive plan which embeds smart growth concepts is currently carried out by an association of governments (SANDAG). Although lacking in land-use powers, SANDAG rests on a wide range of incentives, which should encourage recalcitrant local authorities to put the regional plan forward. The paper concludes that an incentive-based approach can lead to very positive results. However, it can work even better in conjunction with a regulatory framework in order to fill some specific gaps which can occur during the implementation process of the plan.

Case Studies of Strategic Environmental Assessment on Urban or Regional Comprehensive Plans in China

In order to achieve urban and regional sustainable development, many strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practices for urban or regional comprehensive plans were conducted in China. An urban or regional comprehensive plan plays an important role in the planning system of China. Through three case studies, the paper examines how the SEAs incorporate environmental considerations into the urban or regional comprehensive plans in practice, and discusses the experiences and shortcomings. The findings show that support from government agencies, timely interaction with planners, participation of multi-stakeholders, linkage mechanism between SEA and project EIA, and improvement of environmental governance capacity can favor the integration of environment into the comprehensive plans. And more effort should be made to strengthen the general public participation and institutional analysis in the SEA practice in China.

Planners Coming to the Table

Planners Coming to the Table

Habitat selection of breeding riparian birds in an urban environment: untangling the relative importance of biophysical elements and spatial scale

AbstractAim Urbanization is a leading threat to global biodiversity, yet little is known about how the spatial arrangement and composition of biophysical elements – buildings and vegetation – within a metropolitan area influence habitat selection. Here, we ask: what is the relative importance of the structure and composition of these elements on bird species across multiple spatial scales?Location The temperate metropolitan area of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.Methods We surveyed breeding birds on 71 plots along an urban gradient. We modelled relative density for 48 bird species in relation to local woody vegetation composition and structure and to tree cover, grass cover and building density within 50–1000 m of each plot. We used an information‐theoretic approach to compare models and variables.Results At the proximate scale, native tree and understory stem frequency were the most important vegetation variables explaining bird distributions. Species’ responses to landscape biophysical features and spatial scales varied. Most native species responded positively to vegetation measures and negatively to building density. Models combining both local vegetation and landscape information represented best or competitive models for the majority of species, while models containing only local vegetation characteristics were rarely competitive. Smaller spatial scales (≤ 500 m) were most important for 36 species, and eight species had best models at larger scales (> 500 m); however, several species had competitive models across multiple scales.Main conclusions Habitat selection by birds within the urban matrix is the result of a combination of factors operating at both proximate and broader spatial scales. Efforts to manage and design urban areas to benefit native birds require both fine‐scale (e.g., individual landowners and landscape design) and larger landscape actions (e.g., regional comprehensive planning).

Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision: Challenges and Opportunities for the Built Environment

The Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan has won state and national awards for its farsighted approach to regional biodiversity protection. Inspired by Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, the Green Infrastructure Vision takes a step beyond the Recovery Plan by mapping an on-the-ground vision of what could and should be protected in the regional landscape. This Green Infrastructure Vision (GIV) identifies 1.8 million acres of macro-scale resource protection areas that span a region that includes southeastern Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois, and northwestern Indiana. This ambitious vision will require an integrated array of land protection techniques, including acquisition, conservation easements, greenway connections, restoration, and conservation development. Its implementation is being pursued at a range of spatial scales, including regional comprehensive plans, county and municipal plans and ordinances, and at the neighborhood and individual development level. The Vision presents unique opportunities and challenges for both the development community and local governments as progressive new approaches to sustainable land use and conservation development are considered and implemented.

Regional Plans, Local Fates? How Spatially Restrictive Regional Policies Influence County Policy and Regulations

Councils of governments create regional comprehensive plans to shape the future development of their regions. However, actual implementation often depends on local governments that control land use. How, if at all, did two Atlanta Regional Development Plans (RDPs) influence local government policies? Interviews and comparisons of regional and local policies reveal that the RDP planning process clearly and causally influenced voluntary local comprehensive plans, but not subsequent local land-use regulations. However, the RDPs served other functions, such as data provision. Thus, it is useful to incorporate a communicative evaluation approach to examine the broader functions of the planning process, rather than strictly examining the conformance outcomes of the plan policies.