ABSTRACT
Systematic procedures for assessing development suitability are a relatively recent innovation. Most of the assessment techniques that have recently been developed are concerned with three facets of development suitability: physical, climatic, and visual. The physical development suitability is a function of several landscape variables, such as slope and depth to water table. Climatic development suitability is a function of the localized landscape characteristics that affect the microclimate of a given area. Visual development suitability, finally, is a measure of the level of general amenity on any given piece of land. Designers and planners, especially landscape architects, have been hired by developers to analyze and evaluate the physical, climatic, and visual characteristics of a site. Notably absent from this group of techniques are development suitability models for housing, industrial, or commercial uses. Many studies of physical development suitability consider several development-related aspects of the surface of the earth.
