Land-use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done in an effort to promote more desirable social and ...Land-useplanningFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchSeealso:PlanningpermissionTheexamplesandperspectiveinthisarticledealprimarilywiththeUnitedStatesanddonotrepresentaworldwideviewofthesubject.Youmayimprovethisarticle,discusstheissueonthetalkpage,orcreateanewarticle,asappropriate.(November2011)(Learnhowandwhentoremovethistemplatemessage)Land-useplanningistheprocessofregulatingtheuseoflandbyacentralauthority.Usually,thisisdoneinanefforttopromotemoredesirablesocialandenvironmentaloutcomesaswellasamoreefficientuseofresources.Morespecifically,thegoalsofmodernland-useplanningoftenincludeenvironmentalconservation,restraintofurbansprawl,minimizationoftransportcosts,preventionoflanduseconflicts,andareductioninexposuretopollutants.Inthepursuitofthesegoals,plannersassumethatregulatingtheuseoflandwillchangethepatternsofhumanbehavior,andthatthesechangesarebeneficial.Thefirstassumption,thatregulatingland-usechangesthepatternsofhumanbehavioriswidelyaccepted.However,thesecondassumption-thatthesechangesarebeneficial-iscontested,anddependsonthelocationandregulationsbeingdiscussed.Inurbanplanning,landuseplanningseekstoorderandregulatelanduseinanefficientandethicalway,thuspreventinglanduseconflicts.Governmentsuselanduseplanningtomanagethedevelopmentoflandwithintheirjurisdictions.Indoingso,thegovernmentalunitcanplanfortheneedsofthecommunitywhilesafeguardingnaturalresources.Tothisend,itisthesystematicassessmentoflandandwaterpotential,alternativesforlanduse,andeconomicandsocialconditionsinordertoselectandadoptthebestlanduseoptions.[1]Oftenoneelementofacomprehensiveplan,alanduseplanprovidesavisionforthefuturepossibilitiesofdevelopmentinneighborhoods,districts,cities,oranydefinedplanningarea.IntheUnitedStates,thetermslanduseplanning,regionalplanning,urbanplanning,andurbandesignareoftenusedinterchangeably,an