Land Use

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Land Use
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How We Use Land

• Urbanization of areas is becoming a problem.
  Thousands of acres of open space just in
  Pennsylvania have been lost to development.
• There are 2 categories of land
• Rural areas with limited population and lots of
  open space
• Urban Land covered mainly with buildings.

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Primary land use categories

• o  Rangeland
• o  Forest land
• o  Cropland
• o  Parks
• o  Wetlands, mountains, deserts
• o Urban most people in the US live in
  these areas.

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Urban areas are dependent upon rural areas.

• Ecosystem Services
•  Water
•  Food
•  Wood
• Oxygen

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Urban Land Use

• Urbanization movement from rural areas to urban
  areas.
• Infrastructure is important to how well a city
  functions
• Roads
• Public transportation
• Fire and police

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• Urban areas that grow slowly can keep up with the
  demand for services and are usually better
  planned than those that grow quickly.
• Urban areas that grow too quickly for necessary
  services enter URBAN CRISIS.
• City expansion often becomes urban/suburban
  sprawl. People living outside of the city still
  work in the city. This leads to environmental
  problems
• o   Traffic
• o   Smog
• o   Increase in ozone levels
• o  Etc.

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• Expansion of cities can lead to development of
  heat islands.
• Environmental conditions are different in the
  city than in the surrounding countryside.
• Heat is retained by vehicles, buildings and
  concrete longer than surrounding areas of
  vegetation.
• Can affect local weather patterns
• ex. Rain Can be moderated by planting trees.
• Reflective rooftops

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Land Use and Planning becomes an issue.

• Developing an organized approach to how land will
  be used.
• Computerized systems such as GIS are often used.
• Transportation public transportation important.
• Avoid traffic concerns
• Environmentally significant
• Open Space
• Greenbelts
• Parks
• Filter pollutants
• Keep city cooler

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Cluster development allows for open space.
Houses are built close together.
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Cluster development
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Sprawl development, houses are spread out with
little to no open space.
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Sprawl versus Cluster
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Low Impact Development (LID)

• LID is an approach to land development that works
  with nature to manage storm water as close to its
  source as possible.
• LID technologies in conjunction with cluster
  development design can
• minimize impervious surfaces
• create functional and appealing site drainage
• Treat storm water as a resource rather than a
  waste product
• Reduce non-point source pollution
• Can maintain or restore a watersheds hydrology

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Green Infrastructure

• According to the EPA, green infrastructure is
  a term used to refer to the practices that use or
  mimic natural process to infiltrate,
  evapotranspirate or reuse storm water or runoff
  on the site where it is generated.

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LID Practices/Technologies

• Bioretention cell
• Cistern
• Curbless parking Lot islands
• Grassed swale
• Green roof
• Infiltration trench
• Narrow road design
• Permeable pavers/pavement
• Rain barrel
• Rain garden
• Tree planting
• Native vegetation

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LID Technologies
Bio-retention cell can be used for light
recreation
Open space used for storm water cotrol
Bio-swale
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LID Technologies
Permeable material used for parking and roads
Belgium block pavers in parking areas
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LID vrs Convention Designs
Conventional site design with roads and lots
placed on the land to maximize available space
Site inventory with existing vegetation, wind
patterns, wetlands and soil types
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Each lot has its own specific design based on
location, soils, slopes Lots include a variety
of LID/green technologies.
Placement of lots, roads, and open space is
dictated by existing drainage patterns and
forested areas.
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LID is

• A balanced watershed approach to managing altered
  hydrology
• A science-based solution to mitigating the
  impacts of smart development
• A way to decentralize and integrate stormwater
  best management