How do consultants complete Comprehensive Land Use Plans?
Here are the techniques I used as an Environmental Planner for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of the Municipality of Tiwi.
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How we completed the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Tiwi
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Introduction
Comprehensive land use planning is a process that is mandated to the local government units in the Philippines to plan the whole territory of the local government unit.
The area of the local government unit, municipality, the city or the province must all be planned. This includes the municipal land area and the municipal waters of the territory.
The comprehensive land use plan is one of two mandated plans for the local government units, the other being the comprehensive development plan.
In 2018, I was part of a team of UP professors who provided technical assistance in updating the comprehensive land use plan of the Municipality of Tiwi.
The exercise covered 4 of the 12 steps of the comprehensive land use planning process and also involved completing the local development investment plan of the municipality.
The 12-step process of the comprehensive land use planning in the Philippines is long. Our involvement was mainly on Steps 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Here are my past projects in local government planning…
The ingredients of effective land use planning
For effective land use planning, Professor Ernesto Serote enumerates 3 ingredients.
To quote, “effective land use planning is possible only when ideology, politics and techniques converge”.
- Ideology encompasses culture, society and interests.
- Politics encompasses loss, participation and priorities.
- Techniques encompasses methods, skills and tools in land use planning.
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Techniques in Land Use Planning
I personally used these techniques as an environmental sector planner in updating the comprehensive land use plan. These skills are not exclusive to land use planners. This is not an exhaustive list for comprehensive land use planning.
Technique 1: Workshop Facilitation
We conducted two workshops for the stakeholders of the Municipality of Tiwi. The workshops were held for stakeholders to understand the purpose of the comprehensive land use plan and to also help them participate in the planning process.
We did this through surveys, through questionnaires, and through presentations of our proposed projects, programs and activities derived from our own study of their ecological profile, as well as consulting with their chief executive and local officials.
Technique 2: Windshield Surveys
Windshield survey is when you ride a car or a vehicle and go around the municipality or the city to have a ground validation of your areas of interest.
We did this because of limited time and limited resources, as we are also teaching and doing other research projects.
In my personal opinion, one of the constraints of hiring consultants (or hiring academics) is short period of time in local planning processes.
Technique 3: GIS
GIS or geographic information system is not just mapping. But mapping is a big part of it.
We had our own GIS specialist, so what I did was to study overlay maps and assess the vulnerability of the municipality to different climate hazards and disaster risks.
This climate and disaster risk assessment is one of the most complex parts of the comprehensive land use planning process, especially because of technical requirements by the approving authorities.
Conclusion
As of now, the comprehensive land use plan of Tiwi is still with the Provincial Land Use Committee of Albay, according to its mayor.
Here are my past projects in local government planning…