Systems of Measuring Urban Growth Stuart Meck, FAICP Senior Research Fellow American Planning Association Module 8: Monitoring and Measuring Urban Development

Influences on contemporary Land- use Planning (1) Ian McHarg—land-use capability Classifies land according to intrinsic suitability Environmentally sensitive land is removed from development or severely constrained Maps created to show suitability

Influences on Contemporary Land- use Planning (2) F. Stuart Chapin—Land-use allocation Projects future land use based on population, economic growth, facility standards Use of statistical standards Land-use inventories Makes assumes about density, intensity Influences transportation planning

Influences on Contemporary Land- use Planning (3) Andres Duany/Elizabeth Plater- Zyberk/Jonathan Barnett Urban design and new urbanism Reintroduction of street grid Building relationships, pedestrian scale Mixed uses Revisiting British and early American town planning The built environment

The Modern Land- use Plan Land use capability analysis Forecast of land use needs made in regional context The use of urban growth areas Impact of urban growth areas Need to examine density/intensity relationships Prospect of land/price inflation

Land Market Monitoring Benefits Uses geographic information systems Provides information on land use policies and regulations on land inventories Helps avert land price inflation due to urban growth boundaries Provides basis for balancing goals of affordable housing, economic development, & resource protection

Who Has Land Market Monitoring California—for affordable housing New Jersey—for affordable housing Washington—for all types of land use planning Oregon—a “buildable lands” inventory as part of state growth management system

Elements of Land- market Monitoring Establish buildable lands inventory Classify land uses Identify whether land has physical, environmental constraints, redevelopment potential Identify whether site has water, sewer, road access Produce totals for local government

Analysis Conduct comparative analysis to determine whether land within an urban growth boundary is sufficient for certain period of time—20 years Choices Expand urban growth boundary or supply of land to be urbanized Take regulatory action to increase density, intensity

Conclusion Land market monitoring takes seriously land use allocations Local government always knows how much land it has for development purposes Possible to identify land with redevelopment potential