Essential Land Use Planning Principles

As a planner, I adhere to the following guiding principles in land use planning as also mentioned in the book titled Northern Lands, Northern Leadership, The GNWT Land Use and Sustainability Framework: (http://www.lands.gov.nt.casiteslandsfilesresourcesland_use_and_sustainability_framework_updated_email.pdf)

BALANCED AND SUSTAINABLE

Land-management decisions consider ecological, social, cultural and economic values to ensure maximum benefits to current and future generations.

RESPONSIBLE AND RESPONSIVE

Land-management decisions are made in the context of sound environmental stewardship, where all of society takes responsibility to maintain a healthy environment and ecological integrity. Precautionary decision-making and best management practices are implemented to protect and conserve the condition, quality, diversity and abundance of land values. Land-management policies and decisions are adaptable to new information and changing environmental, economic and social conditions.

RESPECTFUL

Land-management decision-making recognizes and respects legal rights of the people.

RELEVANT AND INFORMED

Decisions about land and resources should be made primarily by the residents. Communities and residents in all regions have the opportunity for meaningful engagement and input into land use decisions. Traditional, local and scientific knowledge are used in the decision-making process.

COORDINATED AND COLLABORATIVE

Land use, planning and management are shared responsibilities. Decisions about land use are made in coordination with relevant departments and external organizations and agencies that have responsibilities for land use planning and management decisions.

FAIR AND EQUITABLE

Responsibilities for environmental stewardship and creation of revenue opportunities are shared equitably across all regions.

TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE

Land-management decision-making processes are clear, transparent, consistent and communicated. These principles speak to our commitment to approach land use decision-making from a perspective that considers the environment, the economy and the way of life of the people.

In the guidebook titled Land Use Planning: Concepts, Tools and Applications published by the GIZ (2012), the following principles of land use planning were enumerated and discussed as follows:

1.    Land use planning aims at sustainability balancing social, economic and environmental needs;

2.    Land use planning results in a legally binding land use plan and/or legally binding land use rules. Formal recognition of the land use plan or land use rules is crucial for its implementation. Otherwise, key players such as sector ministries or private investors do not respect them;

3.    Land use planning is integrated into state institutions having the official mandate for inter-sector planning. This can be realized in different ways. The planning can be initiated and facilitated by a local administrative body. The planning can also be done by local or traditional chiefs and later formalized through the signing by a regional or national officer. In the later case, these higher level officers need, however, be involved from an early stage on;

4.    Land use planning is a dialogue. A central part of any land use planning is the initialization of a communication process that allows all stakeholders to express their interests and enables them to agree on future land uses that respect all positions in a fair and adequate way;

5.    Land use planning is an all inclusive process. This requires that all stakeholder groups are represented: local direct and indirect users, public authorities, private investors, NGOs and CBOs. Depending on the level on which land use planning is done, stakeholders’ participation can be direct or indirect;

6.    Land use planning is based on stakeholder differentiation and gender sensitivity. To identify all relevant stakeholders, a gender differentiated analysis of all actors should be done in advance;

7.    Land use planning promotes civic engagement. The population should actively participate in the land use planning. The results of planning and the implementation of measures can only be sustainable if plans are made with and by the people, not behind or even against them. Planning is, therefore, not just a matter for experts, but should be carried out together with those affected by it;

8.    Land use planning is realistic and oriented to local conditions. Not only has the content of a land use planning to be adapted to local conditions. The methods too have to fit the technical, economic and organizational capacities of the local population as well as administration;

9.    Land use planning is based on a “light” methodology avoiding unnecessary data collection resulting in “data graveyards”;

10. Land use planning in terms of methodology and content differs e.g. in scale, specificity, form of participation (direct vs. indirect), and technology at village, municipal and regional level;

11. Land use planning considers and various local knowledge. Rural societies or groups often possess a complex autochthonous knowledge of their natural environment. They can contribute valuable information and should, therefore, be mobilized during the land use planning;

12. Land use planning takes into account traditional strategies for solving problems and conflicts. Traditional rural societies have their own way of approaching problems and settling conflicts concerning land use. In the process of land use planning, such mechanisms have to be recognized, understood and taken into account;

13. Land use planning follows the idea of subsidiarity, i.e. all functions from planning to decision-making, implementation and monitoring are assigned to the lowest appropriate level of government in order to be responsive to the needs of citizens and to ensure effective control from below;

14. Land use planning integrates bottom-up aspects with top-down aspects (“vertical integration”). Land use planning needs to combine local needs and interests with provisions made by higher levels. This can only be achieved in a sustainable way if stakeholders from all levels participate in the process and directly talk and listen to each other;

15. Land use planning is based on inter-disciplinary cooperation and requires sector coordination (“horizontal integration”). The diverse functions and (potential) uses of land make it necessary to apply an interdisciplinary approach involving all sectors that have a stake in that area. This generally requires a longer support in institution building and improving cooperation between different sector ministries/ agencies;

16. Land use planning is a process leading to an improvement in the capacity of stakeholders. The participatory methods used in all steps of land use planning promote the technical and organizational capabilities of all participants, thereby improving their capacity to plan and act. In the medium term, this leads to an improvement in the capacity of local groups or administrative entities (such as municipalities, districts and provinces) for self-determination;

17. Land use planning requires transparency. If there is no transparency on decisions about future land uses, risks are high that some people will be deprived of their rights and/or that future land use will not be sustainable;

18. Land use planning is future-oriented (“visionary”). Land use planning is not only about mapping the current land uses or land covers. Land use planning determines how the land will be used in the future. This may differ more or less from today’s utilization of the land;

19. Land use planning is an iterative process. Land use planning is more than the preparation of a planning document; it is an iterative process. Iteration is both the principle and the method. New developments and findings are specifically observed and incorporated into the planning process. It may lead to the revision of decisions and the repetition of steps already taken;

20. Land use planning is implementation oriented. Land use planning has to consider how the negotiated decisions and the solutions identified are to be implemented. It does not end with the land use plan. The implementation of limited measures right at the beginning of the process or parallel to it plays an important role in establishing  villagers’ confidence in the planning process;

21. Land use planning is linked to financial planning. This is crucial for implementation. Land use planning needs to be aware of the designated uses of sector budgets as well as of the financial planning cycles of the relevant sector ministries (including their deadlines). At the same time, land use planning should influence the composition and intended purposes of budgets and funds;

22. Land use planning relates to spaces and places (“spatial orientation”). In most countries many forms of planning and quite a number of plans exist. What most of them are lacking is the relation to space. Many development plans, for instance, state what has to be developed (mainly in terms of infrastructure) but don’t indicate where. Land use planning puts the focus on spatial relations and differences. The spatial orientation of planning ensures the optimum distribution of investments and the most adequate use of any place and avoids (land use) conflicts.

For these abovementioned themes and principles to be realized in the local land use planning process, the following should be considered as pointed out by Prof. Hubert N. van Lier in his paper Land Use Planning: A Key to Sustainable Development (2002):

   - the adoption of a comprehensive approach that views land and water use and management and environment in an integrated manner;

  - the promotion of regional cooperation to ensure that the concerns of all parties are factored into decisions;

  - the recognition of the linkages among the  different land uses;

  
   -the encouragement of broad-based participation, including governments, professional and research institutions and non-government organizations;

  -the endorsement of a phased program of action at the national and local levels.

This regional approach makes up and outlines the body of a Strategic Action Program, which is a critical measure for implementing priority actions at both national and local levels. The objectives of the Strategic Action Plan are to:

       - evaluate trends;

       - assess causes and implications;
       - provide a cost estimate for investments;

       - establish a framework for monitoring and evaluating;

       - identify priority actions to address key issues.

Priority selection has to follow the criteria listed below:

      - ensure selectivity, in order to concentrate resources on       significant problems;

      - avoid duplication and overlap;

      -emphasize adaptive and cost effective solutions through     adaptation and/or improvement of existing technology to     specific tasks;

     -select topics for investigation and research that are likely    to realize the greater benefit, considering return on              investment, response time, probability of success and        impact on agricultural production.

This integrated approach is expected to bring forth clear benefits in environmental and economic terms, a more sustainable use of land resources in agriculture and higher yields and incomes.

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