Lecture 3: Elements of

Environmental Planning
Course: Environmental Systems and Planning (RUP119)
By Prof I Chirisa
Office PB20
Outline
• What is Environmental Planning?
• Levels of Environmental Planning Assessment and Intervention
• Local\Site
• Region
• Globe
• Land-use Planning
• Site Aspects for Planning, Substructure, Superstructure and
Infrastructure Development
Some Books of Reference
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Introduction
• “Biophysically intelligent questions would lead us toward a future in
which environmental options are left open so that generations to
come can define their own ideas of a “quality environment” from an
array of possibilities.” – Maser (2010: 264)
What is in Environmental Planning?
Scale/Level of Spatial Intervention
Zimbabwean Planning
• Regional Planning

• Master Planning

• Local Planning
types of stewardship:
 “Material stewardship (for instance, inputs like consumables, energy, water,
explosives and equipment),
 Resource stewardship (for example, optimising use of resources for both current and
future generations),
 Product stewardship, which is the shared responsibility with others in the life cycle of
products or commodities so that harm of the environment is minimised due to those
resources’ exposure to the environment, and
 Process stewardship, which refers to the different processes applied to a product as it
moves through its life cycle including extraction and smelting. Potentially produced
outputs include emissions, leakages, wastes and greenhouse gases. Process stewardship
is pinned on the ability of the involved actors (producers and consumers) understanding
these processes (or outputs) in order to minimise harm to people and the environment.”
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Beer & Higgins (2004:88)
 The Inviolate Biophysical Principles
• 1. Everything is a relationship.
• 2. All relationships are productive.
• 3. The only true investment is energy from sunlight.
• 4. All systems are defined by their function.
• 5. All relationships result in a transfer of energy.
• 6. All relationships are self-reinforcing feedback loops.
• 7. All relationships have one or more trade-offs.
• 8. Change is a process of eternal becoming.
• 9. All relationships are irreversible.
• 10. All systems are based on composition, structure, and function.
• 11. All systems have cumulative effects, lag periods, and thresholds.
• 12. All systems are cyclical, but none is a perfect circle.
• 13. Systemic change is based on self-organized criticality.
• 14. Dynamic disequilibrium rules all systems.
 What is Environmental Planning?
• The Business Perspective: - Madu (2007:5), “Planning offers a way to
optimization of resources and stops the firm from ‘ fighting fires.” Planning
leads to preventive measures and anticipation of future environmental
changes. It positions the firm to take competitive advantage rather than
responding only to challenges as they occur. Effective planning also smoothens
out implementation and minimizes environmental burden since many of the
sources of environmental burden would be anticipated and addressed. It also
helps address “what if” or sensitivity analysis questions. Thus, different
scenarios and alternatives will be anticipated, investigated, and prototypes
looked at to identify at least a satisficing solution that may not necessarily be
optimal but give a very good resolution to the environmental problem. When
products and services are designed for the environment, they are properly
planned and fully tested before introduction into the marketplace.”
The Business Perspective (cont’d)
• “Environmental management should be required for all businesses
irrespective of size. Small and medium-sized firms may have more
problems due to limited resources and may also lack the knowledge
to effectively manage the environment. Government initiatives and
incentives may be necessary to encourage such businesses.” (Madu,
2007: 7)
 Planning (Madu, 2007: 69)
• A firm must develop a plan to help it achieve its environmental policy.
Components of the plan are environmental aspects; legal and other
requirements; environmental objectives and targets; and environmental
management programs.
• Environmental aspects deal with procedures that the firm maintains to identify
the environmental aspects of its activities, products or services.
• The firm makes an assessment of these impacts and determines its control
over them and their expected impacts on the natural environment.
• The significant impacts must be considered in setting up environmental
objectives. This information should be updated over time.
• It is a dynamic process that requires the firm to continuously monitor its
environmental influence and impacts on the natural environment and update
the available information as needed.
What is a Site?
• a :the spatial location of an actual or planned structure or set of
structures (such as a building, town, or monuments)

• b :a space of ground occupied or to be occupied by a building

 Site planning in essence (Beer and Higgins, 2004: 83)
• Site planning is essentially about trying to get a good fit between the needs of
people and the environment.
• Site planning is about the right thing in the right place; to establish what is ‘right
in a particular area’, it is necessary to understand the local landscape and then to
use this understanding to develop appropriate types and forms of development.
• When the uses fit the landscape, then an area can develop its own beauty which
relates to appropriateness rather than aesthetics.
• Site planning does not neglect aesthetics, but aesthetic issues only form part of
site planning.
• Through site planning we can determine to keep a particular feature for aesthetic
reasons (say a long-distance view framed by a certain group of trees) and we can
also aim to introduce a certain sequence of visual experience to add to the
aesthetic pleasure of visiting a site and to design the detail of parts of the site to
achieve particular aesthetic effects.
Beer & Higgins (2004: 106)
Infrastructure, Substructures and
Superstructures
• Infra …below; beneath; after

• Sub… “under,” “below,” “beneath”

• Super …. above,
Infrastructure
Spaghetti Junctions