Land Use Planning BASIC PROCESSES

Preface  Land Use Planning Is a Serious – High Stakes Game  It Has Rules, Resources, and Dynamics  It Is Based on Competition Between Stakeholders, Players, and Managers  Its Outcome is “Opportunity”

The Stakeholders  Market Oriented Players  Real Estate  Developers  Builders  Bankers  Land Owners  Investors

The Stakeholders  The Special Interests  Individual Owners  Neighborhoods  Coalitions  Environmentalists  Special Interest Groups

Stakeholders  Government Interests  Federal  State  Regional  Local  The Political Actors  The Public

The Stakeholders  The Planners  Current Planners  Regulatory Planners  Advance Planners  Transportation Planners  Facilities Planners  Civil Engineers  Urban Designers

The System  In Theory, the system is governed by a set of rational studies that yield “a best solution” for efficient land use  In Practice, the system is continuously in conflict, under tension, near warfare  In Actuality, the only moderating influence is the ‘rules of the game’ composed of legal and governance systems

In Short  Agony

OK – The Real Definition  Active land use planning affects the development market by:  Identifying land available for development  Limiting type, location, timing, density  Programming support infrastructure  Allocating public and private costs  Creating standards and review policies

If This Is the Real Definition  The Planner Really Is:  Growth manager  Change agent  Mediator  Conflict manger  Facilitator for Compromise  The Expert

For The Planner  Land Use Planning:  Starts with a vision- what is the good life?  Constantly demands the futurity of present decisions  A sense of trends and futures  A commitment to equity  Smartness  Always evaluating past experience

AND …………………….  A mature understanding that the future is not someplace we arrive – it is a journey. That there are no solutions – only tough choices

Summary – Key Elements  Ability to Think Comprehensively  Technical Competence  Fairness  Consensus Building  Innovation  Advocacy

10 Steps to Land Use Planning  One – The Challenge Concept  Balance Three Competing Sets of Land Values  Social  Market  Environmental

The Core Concept  Step Two  The effort to influence the direction of land use change.  Carried out through the preparation and implementation of future land use policies and plans through review, approval, and concurrency

Monitoring - Scanning  Step Three  Monitoring the on-going process of change in our client communities. Following the stocks and flows of urbanization and ruralization and estimating the impact of these incremental changes on land use

Using Theory for Practice  Step Four  The rational model  The incremental model  The Strategic Model  The Trans-Active Model

The Rational Model  Views Planning as a branch of applied science – uses technology and applied rational tools to arrive at “best solution.”  Planner lists all actions and opportunities  Identify all the consequences following from above  Select that action that has the most preferred consequences

Rational Model Requirements 1.a well-defined problem; 2.a full array of alternatives to consider; 3.full baseline information; complete information about the consequences of each alternative; 4.full information about the values and preferences of citizens; and full adequate time, skill, and resources.

Incremental Model  Basic Ideas  Planning is perceived as a psycho/political process  Planner focuses only on those problems that differ incrementally from existing policies  Small # of policy alternatives are considered  Only important consequences are studied  There is no one “right” decision but a whole array of possible attacks on the problem

Strategic Planning Models  Basic concepts  Origins in military then transferred to corporate and public agencies  Key element is to achieve competitive advantage  Short term orientation to discover the core competencies of the organization  S.W.O.T

Urban Change Context  Step Five – Understanding Land Change  Political Economy Models  Good City Form Models  Land Market Theories  Intervention models (Regulations]

Political Economy Models  Basic concepts  Best described as active competition among social groups, key leaders, elites.  Invasion, succession, adaptation, dominance

Land Use Values  Step Six  Balancing Community Form  Vitality – support for community form through appropriate infrastructure  Sense – Resident’s perception of space  Fit – Match between space and activity  Efficiency – Maintaining control

Neighborhoods  Step Seven – Social/physical neighborhood  Core organizing device of land use planning  Defensive area  Most responsive to local needs  Social information and control  Bounded Area

Market Driven Process  Step Eight – Market Forces  Land Use Outcomes are the result of private market forces influenced by governmental policies  Market substitution  Market failure and the cost of suppression  Concept of attractive and repelative force

Environmental Values  Step Nine – Environment As An Economic Asset  Integrity and Sustainability  Preservation vs. Conservation  Land suitability and capacity without undergoing irreversible change  Mitigation

Developing Values  Step 10 – The Planner’s Values  Practice values often are conditional and situational rather than general  The underpinnings of these values are:  Participation  Balance  Constructing alternatives

The Functions of Land Use Planning  #1  Intelligence – Gathering, organizing, analyzing, and distributing information to stakeholders. Alerts decision-makers to conditions, trends, and projections in land development and market trends

Functions  #2  Advance Plan Making – The most traditional function; consists of intermediate and long range planning. Involves goal setting – defining future desirable land use patterns that balance social, market, and environmental needs.

Functions  #3  Problem Solving – “Brush Fire Planning” – Addressing issues not anticipated in advance planning. It is responsive – not anticipatory. It coordinates and isolates the many features arising from community issues

Functions  #4  Managing Development – The day-to-day management, enforcement, policy-making, regulations of the land use program. Involves sanctions, rewards, site review – in other words – all aspects of implementation of plans.