In Baguio City, Philippines talks are underway toward developing a land use plan. “A series of public consultations on the Draft Comprehensive City Land Use Plan (CLUP) targeting the various sectors here has been scheduled to ensure maximum participation of the stakeholders in the finalization of the crucial plan.” It is expected that this plan will be finalized shortly.
Similar initiatives are underway in India where a “National Development Planning Act, that would take care of the need for land, the land use alterations that are required for genuine public purposes and land reforms for distributive justice,” The Hindu reports. Cambodia is also involved in creating land administration programs that serve the needs of citizens.
Forest Carbon Asia examined Lao land use planning that began in the early 1990’s without adequate planning to discover the impact participation had on the process. That project involved the “extent to which the evolution of Laos’ village land use planning has resulted in increased local participation and improved livelihoods. Local participation was assessed quantitatively in six study villages, in combination with more qualitative surveys on planning practices and influences on livelihoods and land uses.”
In a ASian Development Bank document entitled ‘The Way Foward‘ the relationship of land use planning to transport systems is discussed and it is suggested that, “An integrated approach requires combining elements of land use and transport planning, TDM, TSM and regulation; supported by appropriate policies on resource mobilization, taxation, pricing, subsidies, institutional and legal aspects, promotion and awareness raising. Care must be taken to ensure that the poor and low-income groups are not displaced or unfairly disadvantaged, but rather that they benefit from actions to improve air quality.”
