New Publication: Monitoring Land Supply with Geographic Information Systems (Land Lines Article)

Publication Date: July 2000

Inventory ID LLA000702; English

Article

Monitoring supplies of developable land and their capacity to accommodate growth within urbanizing regions is an increasingly important component of urban planning and growth management. With the implementation of smart growth planning reforms, public officials have sought to establish new and improved methods of balancing the supply and demand for land, housing, and commercial space, while at the same time pursuing the objectives of compact development and sprawl containment. Fortunately, recent developments in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related information technology have opened up new opportunities for local and regional governments to monitor land use change and to study the potential for future land development and redevelopment.

Based on a project sponsored by the Lincoln Institute, Anne Vernez Moudon and Michael Hubner review the state of the art in land supply monitoring in their book, Monitoring Land Supply with Geographic Information Systems: Theory, Practice, and Parcel-Based Approaches, recently published by John Wiley & Sons. The book examines major issues in land monitoring, in particular how the practice has been shaped by a confluence of recent technological and policy changes. The authors focus on the availability of GIS capabilities at the level of individual land parcels-a significant new development that has enabled public agencies to conduct extensive and highly detailed inventories and capacity studies with land-based data. Opportunities and challenges associated with parcel-based land monitoring are discussed and illustrated with examples from the field.

The first two chapters, by Moudon and Hubner, offer a comprehensive summary of technical and methodological frameworks for data collection and interpretation. Several additional chapters and commentaries are authored by leaders in the planning field, including David Godschalk, Lewis Hopkins, Gerrit Knaap, Paul Waddell, Ric Vrana. Their papers address such themes as alternative database designs, technological and methodological advances, the potential role of urban simulation modeling, and organizational contexts for the practice of land monitoring. Technical issues are discussed with reference to various planning concerns, such as the management of land and housing markets within designated urban growth areas, linkages between land use and infrastructure planning, and encouragement of infill and redevelopment within existing urbanized areas.

In addition to focusing on general issues in the field, Monitoring Land Supply with Geographic Information Systems provides practical information on land monitoring programs throughout the United States. Detailed case studies of successful recent and ongoing efforts include work conducted by Portland Metro in Oregon; Montgomery County in Maryland; and the Puget Sound Regional Council in Washington. Appendices offer further case study data in two formats: summary findings of a national survey of land supply monitoring programs, and descriptions of land monitoring activities in 10 selected jurisdictions.

This comprehensive, timely, and critical overview of a fast-emerging field of planning and policy analysis represents a valuable resource to professionals, including land use and economic development planners, GIS analysts, local government officials, and private development and real estate professionals. As such, the book fills a gap in recent planning literature and provides a foundation for future work.

Anne Vernez Moudon is professor of urban design and planning at the University of Washington. Michael Hubner is an urban and regional planner in Seattle and consultant to the Suburban Cities Association of King County. Contact: moudon@u.washington.edu or mhubner@drizzle.com.

To order Monitoring Land Supply with Geographic Information Systems, contact John Wiley & Sons by calling 800-225-5945, faxing to 732-302-2300, or sending email to custserv@wiley.com. ISBN: 0-471-37163-7, hardback, 326 pages. US $90.00, Canada $135.50.