Approaches to Land Use Policy

Abstract

Citizen participation in land use planning is most often conceived as a tool to be used by planners and policy analysts. The argument of this study is that the reverse is more appropriate; policy analysis and planning should be seen as tools to be used by citizens. In order to develop this point, four different models of land use policy analysis are presented. The conclusion is drawn that prevailing models have a narrow view of policy impact, and that they focus on the individual to the exclusion of the community. The fourth model, an interaction approach, is the only one which sees participation as more than a means to aggregate individual preferences. It implies the need for new structures through which a communal process can emerge. Land use planning, developed through this participatory model, can use the other approaches to policy making as tools to enhance its analytic capacities.