LAND USE PLANNING

 Land-use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority.
 Usually, this is done in an effort to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a
more efficient use of resources.
 More specifically, the goals of modern land-use planning often include environmental conservation, restraint of
urban sprawl, minimization of transport costs, prevention of land use conflicts, and a reduction in exposure to
pollutants. In the pursuit of these goals, planners assume that regulating the use of land will change the patterns
of human behavior, and that these changes are beneficial.
 The first assumption, that regulating land-use changes the patterns of human behavior is widely accepted.
However, the second assumption - that these changes are beneficial - is contested, and depends on the location
and regulations being discussed.
 In urban planning, land use planning seeks to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus
preventing land use conflicts.
 Governments use land use planning to manage the development of land within their jurisdictions.
 In doing so, the governmental unit can plan for the needs of the community while safeguarding natural
resources.
 To this end, it is the systematic assessment of land and water potential, alternatives for land use, and economic
and social conditions in order to select and adopt the best land use options.
 Often one element of a comprehensive plan, a land use plan provides a vision for the future possibilities of
development in neighborhoods, districts, cities, or any defined planning area.
 In the United States, the terms land use planning, regional planning, urban planning, and urban design are often
used interchangeably, and will depend on the state, county, and/or project in question.
 Despite confusing nomenclature, the essential function of land use planning remains the same whatever term is
applied.
 The Canadian Institute of Planners offers a definition that land use planning means the scientific, aesthetic, and
orderly disposition of land, resources, facilities and services with a view to securing the physical, economic and
social efficiency, health and well-being of urban and rural communities.
 The American Planning Association states that the goal of land use planning is to further the welfare of people
and their communities by creating convenient, equitable, healthful, efficient, and attractive environments for
present and future generations

Laws that ensure rational land use and sustainable urban and regional development

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  Executive Order No. 72 – providing for the preparation and implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use
Plans (CLUPs) of Local Government Units pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent
laws.
 Memorandum Circular No. 54 – prescribing the guidelines of Sec. 20, R.A. 7160, authorizing cities/municipalities
to reclassify lands into non-agricultural uses.
 Executive Order No. 124 – establishing priorities and procedures in evaluating areas for land conversion in
regional agricultural/industrial centers, tourism development areas and sites for socialized housing.

Comprehensive Land Use Planning

 rational approach of allocating available land resources as equitably as possible among competing user groups
and for different functions consistent with the development plan of the area

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  CLUP is an instrument for the local government unit to allocate available land resources to different sectors of its
territory for different functions.
 Land is finite, immobile, has varying physical attributes, and can be used in multiple ways.
 Every phenomenon that affects the population influences the territory of the local government unit.
 The Comprehensive Land Use Plan allows the local government unit to communicate to various sectors of the
population how it plans to cater to their needs of land resources.
 The Comprehensive Land Use Plan also materializes the vision of the local government for the territory on its
land resources.

 The Comprehensive Land Use Plan is a document that encompasses the whole territory of the local government
unit.
 No area in the municipality must be left unplanned.
 The DILG estimated that an LGU creates around 33 sectoral and thematic plans mandated by national
government agencies.
 These plans typically cover only portions and certain concerns of the municipality.
 Moreover, an updated Comprehensive Land Use Plan can be a resource hub for other local plans.

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Process of completing a CLUP
 The HLURB has published a three-volume guidebook to help local governments formulate and update their
Comprehensive Land Use Plans.
 The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (now the Department of Human Settlements and Urban
Development) prescribes a 12-step process for the formulation of a Comprehensive Land Use Plan.
 The process starts with organizing the local government for planning purposes and “ends” with monitoring and
evaluation of the plan.
 Being an iterative process, the Comprehensive Land Use Planning process is cyclical.

12-step process for the formulation of a Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Principles and approaches important to the formulation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan are:
 watershed approach, the territory is analyzed based on common drainage basins
 inclusive and expansive governance, collaborative partnerships among all stakeholders
 co-management principle, shared responsibility among different levels of governance
 gender responsiveness and sensitivity, all needs of all sectors of the population are integrated into the plan
 bottom-up approach, integrating plans from the barangay, through the barangay development plans, and,
 top-to-bottom approach. alignment with provincial, regional and national plans and frameworks
How can local government units formulate and update Comprehensive Land Use Plans regularly?
 Being the Chief Executive, the mayor is the key official for ensuring that Comprehensive Land Use Plans are
formulated and updated regularly.

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  The mayor is given powers by the Local Government Code (Section 106, Section 444) that is sufficient to
mobilize the local government into regularly planning and implementing Comprehensive Land Use Plans.
 Of course, members of the Local Development Council, must be involved in the initial mobilization and
organization for the comprehensive land use planning process.
 The Local Planning and Development Office (LPDO) can also be encouraged to maintain an updated and
accessible database.
 As the Technical Secretariat of the Local Development Council, the LPDO can be the hub of all relevant data and
information for land use.
How many years should a Comprehensive Land Use Plan in the Philippines cover?
 At present, the typical CLUP in the Philippines covers 8 to 10 years.
How long is the process of formulating a Comprehensive Land Use Plan?
 The Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board provides a sample Comprehensive Land Use Planning schedule that
covers 18 months
 The process may extend to a longer period because of issues in the review process of appropriate bodies (Step
10)
How much will a Comprehensive Land Use Plan process cost a local government unit?
 Cost is the biggest issue for local governments in updating their Comprehensive Land Use Plans and
Comprehensive Development Plans.
 Example: The Municipality of Dumalinao, a 4th class municipality of Zamboanga del Sur, published in 2021 an
Invitation to Bid on PhilGEPS for their Comprehensive Land Use Plan amounting to P1M.
 Formulating the Comprehensive Land Use Plan is often done through hiring external consultants. Besides
consultant fees, additional costs may be incurred for travel expenses, food for workshops and meetings, and the
daily opportunity cost of officials involved in the planning process.

Forest Land Use Planning (FLUP)

 participatory process of allocating forests and forestland as natural resources asset by the government under
appropriate management, tenure arrangement and eventually putting these assets according to their best uses
in order to harmonize uses of forest lands. Forest and forestland provide a good resource based for sustainable
economic development, a source of environmental services such as fresh air, clean water supply and serve
habitat for various fauna and flora. It also prevents the occurrence of flash floods and landslide.
 A key strategy to effective management is to establish the best uses of these lands and allocate them to
responsible managers under different forms of tenure. A resource manager can be an individual, a group or an
organization who can aptly rehabilitate, preserve, conserve and protect the area from illegal activities and use
the resource in a sustainable manner. The LGU itself, in partnership with DENR, can be a resource manager.

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 While allocation decision (who will be assigned to manage the area) and management decisions for strict
protection areas reside with state, LGUs can be involved in the process. DENR and LGU need a good basis to be
able to make an informed decision thru FLUP.
 An important step in FLUP is the identification of “open access” areas which are areas in FFLs that are not
covered by any tenure. In the absence of a tenure holder or resource manager, anybody can just come in and
use the resources, in most cases, in an unsustainable and destructive approach living the resource degraded and
damaged.
 Information provided in the FLUP is valuable in reaching a decision on who can be the best resource manager for
a particular area. With responsible and accountable tenure holder in place, intrusions and unauthorized use of
the resource in what were once an “open access” will be mitigated if not stopped. It must be emphasized that
allocation in the forestland areas does not imply a process of dividing the land for the sole purpose of handling
them out to beneficiaries. Somewhat, it is a management tool for establishing accountabilities and promoting
responsible and sustainable forest resource management.
 The end goal is to harmonize the use of forestland and ensure that production activities in the uplands are in
balance with forest protection and biodiversity conservation. It also assured that upland-lowland relationship
within a ridge-to-reef framework is observed and sustained. The ridge-to-reef approach takes into consideration
the interconnectedness of the ecosystem, from uplands to lowland and down to coastal areas. Everything that
happens in the uplands will go down to the sea. This is an important consideration that an LGU should instill in
mind in formulating and implementing the FLUP.
 The duration of the plan will be 10 years and will be integrated in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the
municipality. The Technical Working Group worked hand in hand in data gathering and on-site validation in
order come up with a realistic view of the forestland areas. The steering committee is formed to institutionalize
partnership between DENR, LGU and FL stakeholders.

Zoning
 the way the governments control the physical development of land and the kinds of uses to which each
individual property may be put.
 Zoning laws typically specify the areas in which residential, industrial, recreational or commercial activities may
take place. For example, an R-1 residential zone might allow only single-family detached homes as opposed to
duplexes or apartment complexes. On the other hand, a C-1 commercial zone might be zoned to permit only
certain commercial or industrial uses in one jurisdiction, but permit a mix of housing and businesses in another
jurisdiction.

WHAT ELSE DO ZONING LAWS REGULATE?

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  Besides restricting the uses that can be made of land and buildings, zoning laws also may regulate the
dimensional requirements for lots and for buildings on property located within the town, the density of
development, and whether you can have pigeons, dogs, sheep or llamas. Some zoning ordinances also regulate
the extraction of natural resources from land within the zoned area, others provide space for hospitals, parks,
schools, and open space and still others protect places of historical significance within the community.

WHO CONTROLS ZONING?

 Zoning is a purely a county, city, or municipal affair. Though such laws are somewhat universal, the
classifications used to describe zoning are not uniform from place to place. For instance, it is not uncommon to
find that zoning rules that apply to one part of the community are different in another part of the town, or that
one town does a mix of residential uses with some commercial uses but a neighboring community might outlaw
such mix.

WHAT ARE SOME MAJOR TYPES OF CLASSIFICATIONS?

 Classifications are not the same from place to place. The most frequently-used groups are
o commercial
o industrial
o residential
o agricultural
 These groups may be used in various combinations.
 Within each of these general categories are more narrowly defined divisions. For example, a residential zone
might be segregated into separate zones for single-family homes on one acre, single family homes on a half acre,
hotels, boardinghouses, mobile homes, low-rise apartment complexes, high-rise apartment complexes, or
institutional housing. An industrial zone may be zoned "heavy", "light", or "research". A commercial zone can be
divided into small stores, shopping centers, gas stations, restaurants, drive-in facilities, adult-entertainment
districts, and warehouses.

IS ZONING PERMANENT?
 No. A zoning classification is not set in stone. Don’t assume that because you are in a residential-use-only zone
that the 10-acre vacant lot sitting across the street cannot be built up as a rooming house, or worse, as a private
club for college students. Zoning laws can be, and have been, relaxed and exceptions made.

WHAT DO ALL THE ZONING SYMBOLS, SUCH AS R2 OR M3, MEAN?

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  Zoning symbols vary among communities. An R2 zone in one community is not necessarily the same as an R2 in
another community. Frequently, communities use letters of the alphabet as code abbreviations to identify the
use allowed in a physical geographic area, such as A for agricultural (or airport or apartments), R for residential,
C for commercial, I or M (industrial or manufacturing) and P for park or parking lots. These symbols are usually
followed by a number to specify the level of use; for example, the common generalizations are R1 for a single-
family home, R2 for two-dwelling units, R3 for a apartment complexes, and so forth.
 Some communities may also designate another number to indicate certain square footage for that particular
zone, as for example, R1-3 to signify a single-family dwelling with a lot size of less than 3 acres.

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