Urban

Environmental
Management
Lecture 19
URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT
(Environmental Strategies
for Urban Areas)
 Urban Land Use
Planning & Control
 Urban Land Use Planning
& Control
DEFINITION:
Land use planning is a planning technique to improve the quality of
life in urban areas.

According to this various socio-economic activities are allocated

space in a particular area, or in other words, areas are assigned
specific activities based on various parameters which will help in
increasing overall efficiency of the urban area.

Most urban areas and some rural areas use some form of land use
planning to determine the best present and future use of each parcel
of land in the area.
There are two types of urban land
use planning:
1. Conventional Land Use Planning
2. Contemporary / Ecological Land Use Planning
 Urban Land Use Planning
& Control
1. Conventional Land Use Planning
 Based on the assumption that
substantial future population growth
and economic development should
be encouraged, regardless of the
environmental and other
consequences.
 Typically this leads to uncontrolled
or poorly controlled urban growth.
Conventional Land Use Planning
Conventional Land Use Planning
 Urban Land Use Planning
& Control
2. Contemporary / Ecological Land
use planning
 Anticipate regions present and
future needs and problems.
 It is a complex process that
takes into account geological,
ecological, economic, health,
and social factors.
Urban Land Use Planning
& Control

Zoning to Control
Land Use Planning
 Urban Land Use Planning & Control
Zoning
 Zoning is the chief planning tool of
local governments to guide the future
development of a community, protect
neighborhoods, concentrate retail
business and industry, channel
traffic, and play a major role in the
enhancement of urban as well as
small-town life.
 In 1926 zoning was declared constitutional
by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Zoning is a device of land use regulation used
by local governments in most developed
countries.

The word is derived from the practice of

designating permitted uses of land, based on
mapped zones which separate one set of land
uses from another.
 Urban Land Use Planning
& Control
Zoning to Control Land Use Planning
 Various parcels of land are designated
for certain uses.
 Once a land use plan has developed,
government controls the uses of various
parcels of land by legal and economic
methods.
 Zoning can be used to control growth
and protect areas from certain types of
development e.g., to use zoning to
encourage high density development
along major mass transit corridors to
reduce automobile use and air pollution.
Theoretically, the primary purpose of
zoning is to segregate uses that are
thought to be incompatible.

In practice, zoning is used to prevent

new development from interfereing with
existing residents or businesses and to
preserve the "character" of a community.
 Zoning may include regulation of the

• kinds of activities which will be acceptable on particular

lots (such as open space, residential, agricultural,
commercial or industrial),
• the densities at which those activities can be performed (from
low-density housing such as single family homes to high-
density such as high-rise apartment buildings),
• the height of buildings, the amount of space structures may
occupy, the location of a building on the lot (setbacks),
• the proportions of the types of space on a lot, such as how
much landscaped space, impervious surface, traffic lanes, and
parking must be provided.
Basically, urban zones fall into one of five major
categories: residential, mixed residential-commercial,
commercial, industrial and special (e. g. power plants,
sports complexes, airports, shopping malls etc.)
 Zoning types

Zoning codes have evolved over the years as urban

planning theory has changed, legal constraints
have fluctuated, and political priorities have
shifted.
The various approaches to zoning can be divided into
4 broad categories:
Euclidean, Performance, Incentive,
and Design-based.
 Standard Euclidean
Also known as "Building Block" zoning

characterized by the segregation of land uses into specified

geographic districts and dimensional standards stipulating
limitations on the magnitude of development activity that is
allowed to take place on lots within each type of district.
 Standard Euclidean
Uses within each district are usually heavily
prescribed to exclude other types of uses
(residential districts typically disallow commercial
or industrial uses).

Some "accessory" or "conditional" uses may be allowed

in order to accommodate the needs of the primary
uses.
 Euclidean Zoning
Euclidean Zoning uses traditional Euclidean
zoning classifications (industrial, commercial,
multi-family, residential, etc.)

Euclidean zoning is a zoning by specific and

uniform geographical division. It is a system of
zoning whereby a town or community is divided
into areas in which specific uses of land are
permitted.
 Euclidean Zoning
For example, multi-family is not only permitted in
"higher order" multi-family zoning districts, but also
permitted in high order commercial and industrial
zoning districts as well.

Performance Zoning
Also known as "effects-based planning“
performance zoning uses performance- based or goal-
oriented criteria to establish review parameters for
proposed development projects in any area of a
municipality, building affordable housing units,etc
Zoning to Control Land Use Planning