Research and Data Needs for Land Use Planning: A Report

Excerpts from the report: This report provides background on research issues and data problems relating to land use planning in the United States, and discusses existing land use research and USDA data systems. It presents recommendations for land use research, as well as data development and dissemination capabilities. Early action activities relating to research needs and the use of existing research also are discussed. The report focuses on land use planning for agriculture and rural areas. Accordingly, it is not intended to be comprehensive in scope or coverage. It covers some research areas and data collection activities that are shared responsibilities with other agencies and institutions. Some of the recommendations and suggestions in the report must be considered tentative until further information becomes available. Because land use and land use planning have both broad and narrow connotations, it is difficult to review and categorize research and data needs. For this report, land use research and data needs are defined as land use information that is directly useful to State and local planners and public decisionmakers. The intent is to circumscribe the problem area to manageable dimensions. As will be pointed out, additional work on land use research and data classification schemes is needed.