Factors which govern the allocations of varied land uses for development of city
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Land use allocation process is the result of interaction between land suitability and land demand in an environment affected by socio-economic, political and administrative rules and regulations.

The assessment of land suitability for land use types is normally carried out by comparisons of the land use requirement with the land use characteristics. This process is mainly implemented at polygon or pixel “micro level”. On the other hand, the demands for different land use types are estimated at administrative “macro level”, considering various scenarios. The interaction of the above two processes “in micro and macro levels” derived by various socio-economic variables of the environment causes the land use change, and can be used for land allocation



Factors that govern the allocations of varied land uses


1.      Social factor:  Social interest, values, prejudice, likes and dislikes. Social status and background of people living

2.      Physical Factor: man’s activities are dominated by nature, emphasis on things like relief, flood plain, watershed area, elevation, climate (amount of rainfall ) and geology (soil mineral content , texture depth of soil etc.)

3.      Economic Factor: the main reason for putting any piece of land to use is the economies, which are to be obtained from using it, arising for example, from its accessibility to people and its situation in relation to other pieces of land.  

a.      Capital : money needed to buy land , acquire land

b.      Market : Distance from market

4.      Political Factor  Government policy and legislation framework

5.      Location (situation) : based on the quantum of benefits derivable from its location in relation to established uses 

6.      Transportation & communication network: proposed or existing demands of transportation or communication.




All the above views are statements of facts, but it can be stated that human beings putting to use, particular site or parcels of land in particular way(s) and for different purpose(s) cannot be explained completely from any of the above submissions.




Social Factor

Social behaviours, customs and religious belief. Religiously, there are sacred lands, which can not be used for any other purposes like residential, or commercial except for worshipping gods. Also, certain uses that contradict the religious belief of some people in a particular community are forbidden. For example, in the Muslim dominated communities, beer parlours, cinema houses, hotels and rearing of pigs are not allowed. Under traditions and customs, some groups of people live together in large numbers while others constitute scattered communities.




Physical factors

Geographical influence, the use to which land in a particular locality may be put is highly influenced by the regular pattern, of weather conditions, like temperature, amount of rain and its regularity of winds and others. Whether a place is in the desert region, forest or temperate region is often put into consideration before deciding on what the land is suitable for.

Settlement pattern in the desert region differ considerably from that of temperate or forest region. The nature of soil is also put into consideration as in whether it is suitable for a particular use. For instance, solid firm land could be preferred to sandy, loamy or waterlogged area for residential use.




Political factor

Town Planning Department, Ministry of Urban development & housing, Development authorities, Environmental Protection Agencies and Legislative Bodies respectively undertake regulatory measures that determine the uses of land. Government policies on development of land at Central, State and Local Government levels have some far reaching effects on pattern of land use.

 

Land demand component in land use allocation

As per the planning standards specification demand side of land use allocation must then be matched with the supply side. In this methodology, this is facilitated by suitability analysis resulting in maps which show the relative suitability of sites with respect to the location principles. The suitability map is the critical device for land use plan design and performs three vital functions :

(i)     it identifies location of suitable sites;

(ii)   it shows the size of the sites and therefore aids the process of meeting space requirements; and

(iii) it provides the basis for the planner to balance the demand with the supply.

These suitability maps are not considered as the land use design themselves. They merely reflect present conditions and not the future. A limited number of sites must eventually be selected from the numerous sites suitable for each type of land use.

Chapin and Kaiser (1979) who described in five lines of text the task identified as "formulating the schematic land use design" with the instruction to generate and synthesize solution ideas. It is this task of synthesizing ideas that distinguishes the land use planner as a professional who is able to provide the input based on professional training and experience. The planner must draw on his experiences and training to use the planning guidelines and standards to allocate the various land uses to the sites identified in the suitability maps. The result is a preliminary allocation. This must then be reconciled with the capability of the sites to accommodate the level of usage expected, as measured by some form of holding capacity, such as number of dwellings per acre.

The typical process may involve numerous alternative trial schemes, with the final design being a resynthesis of the various alternative schemes. These alternative trial schemes do not produce several alternative plans but are only the various trial allocations to balance the demand with the supply of land for the various land uses. The outcome of this process will typically be one alternative land use design or plan. To generate several alternatives, the planner will have to repeat the same process several times. It is obvious that the traditional approach demands a considerable amount of effort and creativity even just to produce one alternative, particularly when the process of preparing the suitability maps and the allocation are carried out entirely by manual methods. As a consequence, the alternatives generated have been found to be quite similar to one another. The use of a GIS to undertake the suitability analysis and to select of the sites (cells) for each land use could undoubtedly speed up the process and reduce the tedious work of repeating numerous map overlay operations. However, the creative input must still be supplied by the planner.

One important feature of the approach described above is that, unlike the original concept of the scientific approach, allocation of land use in the land use plan design approach is not based entirely on professional and technical knowledge in which the experts' view dominates. On the contrary, the process of land use allocation must reflect community goals, and the function of the planner is to provide technical inputs on the most appropriate location for various land uses and their space requirements to meet projected demand. The planner plays a central role by providing the analytical skills in suitability and capability mapping and eventually resolving conflicts in land use allocation to produce the land use distribution plan. This approach assimilated elements from the design origins and the rationality mode of planning as well as later concerns about the participatory process.

 

Factors influencing the pattern of land use allocation

1.      the location of towns,

2.      the  manner of town growth,

3.      Town morphology
4.      the processes in the operation formation of patterns of distribution and uses have 

Manish Jain Luhadia 
B.Arch (hons.), M.Plan
Email: manish@frontdesk.co.in
Tel: +91 141 6693948
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