ABSTRACT
Land use studies are intended to provide basic data on the various activities that occupy land in the planning area. These data are used in analyzing the current pattern of urban land use and serve as the framework for formulating the long-range land use plan. The land use plan establishes the character, quality, and pattern of the physical environment for the conduct of the activities of people and organizations in the planning area. Land use planning depends on reliable population forecasts, sound economic projections, and a thorough understanding of the interrelationship of all types of urban land use, that is, those for living, livelihood, and leisure. A series of basic studies is required to furnish information on the use, nonuse, and misuse of urban land. These may include a compilation of data on the physiographic features of the planning area, a land use survey, a vacant land survey, a flood hazard survey, a structural and environmental quality survey, a cost-revenue study of land use, a land value study, a study of aesthetic and historic features of the urban area, and a survey of public attitudes and preferences regarding land use. The most basic and important of these surveys and studies is the land use survey. The information provided by the land use survey is essential to all types of physical planning. Closely related to the land use survey are the transportation and thoroughfare studies that provide concomitant data on the movement of people and goods. Also closely related to the land use survey are utility studies: sanitary sewerage, water supply, and stormwater management.
