Systems of Measuring Urban Growth

Stuart Meck, FAICP

Senior Research Fellow

American Planning Association

Module 8: Monitoring and Measuring Urban Development

Influences on contemporary

Land-use Planning (1)

Ian McHarg—land-use capability

•Classifies land according to intrinsic suitability

•Environmentally sensitive land is removed from development or severely constrained

•Maps created to show suitability

Influences on Contemporary

Land-use Planning (2)

F. Stuart Chapin—Land-use allocation

Projects future land use based on population, economic growth, facility standards

Use of statistical standards Land-use inventories Makes assumes about density,

intensity Influences transportation

planning

Influences on Contemporary

Land-use Planning (3) Andres Duany/Elizabeth Plater-

Zyberk/Jonathan Barnett Urban design and new urbanism Reintroduction of street grid Building relationships,

pedestrian scale Mixed uses Revisiting British and early

American town planning The built environment

The Modern Land-use Plan

Land use capability analysis Forecast of land use needs made

in regional context The use of urban growth areas Impact of urban growth areas

•Need to examine density/intensity relationships

•Prospect of land/price inflation

Land Market Monitoring

Benefits Uses geographic information

systems Provides information on land use

policies and regulations on land inventories

Helps avert land price inflation due to urban growth boundaries

Provides basis for balancing goals of affordable housing, economic development, & resource protection

Who Has Land Market Monitoring

California—for affordable housing

New Jersey—for affordable housing

Washington—for all types of land use planning

Oregon—a “buildable lands” inventory as part of state growth management system

Elements of Land-market Monitoring

Establish buildable lands inventory

Classify land uses Identify whether land has

physical, environmental constraints, redevelopment potential

Identify whether site has water, sewer, road access

Produce totals for local government

Analysis

Conduct comparative analysis to determine whether land within an urban growth boundary is sufficient for certain period of time—20 years

Choices•Expand urban growth

boundary or supply of land to be urbanized

•Take regulatory action to increase density, intensity

Conclusion

Land market monitoring takes seriously land use allocations

Local government always knows how much land it has for development purposes

Possible to identify land with redevelopment potential