ABSTRACT
In March 1997, the National Center for Resource Innovations' (NCRI) Chesapeake Office and The Washington Post collaborated on a special three-part series entitled "Green, More or Less: Washington's Vanishing Open Space." The study focused on urban expansion in the twelve-county, two-state region surrounding the District of Columbia. By applying Geographic Information System technologies to data from the US Census, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, aerial photography, local land use plans, and planning statistics and projections from county and state governments, the NCRI compiled maps illustrating past and future patterns of open space and development in the Washington region. In total, 43.7% of the land in the Washington metropolitan area will be converted to urban uses by the year 2020. County planners and town councilors within the Washington metropolitan area struggle for acceptable solutions to allow for sensible development. Loudoun County is proposing to pay its farmers to give up their right to sell land to developers.
