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Using Land: A Valuable Resource - Summary

When planning land, we need to take into consideration the benefits, drawbacks, costs and all kinds of
residents’ needs. If none of these are decided, there is a possibility of spending a huge amount of money but
not catering to the needs of residents and even having more downsides than advantages. In our report, we
have done heavy research and taken many things into account, and created two solutions that will satisfy
both the developers and residents.

In our solution, we included all the various kinds of advantages and disadvantages for each facility, costs,
profits and losses, and all sorts of limitations. We looked into the different options from every perspective
and gave our best and yet subjective view.

Firstly, we made several general assumptions that would allow us to have a wider range of solutions. This
would also ensure that our solutions would better fit the land and its residents. We also made a problem
restatement to find out the main points that we needed to focus on and plan the next several steps for our
research.

Next, we came up with the variables and constants in order to create our solutions. The variables would give
us a better understanding when creating solutions as we would always take into consideration the
unpredictable changes that may occur, both short and long term.

We stated all the short and long term benefits of all the facility options that were given by the developers.
Listing down all the benefits would give the developers a clearer idea of which option they favor and
therefore, make a decision on which facilities they want to build in. Besides benefits, we also included the
drawbacks. This ensures that we do not have a biasness, and also makes sure that developers are aware of all
the possible disadvantages and risks that would occur along the way with each facility.

The costs play a very important role in deciding which facilities are chosen as there is definitely a budget
given to build the area’s facilities. Without calculating the costs, the possibility of going beyond the budget
while constructing the facilities are much higher. This would greatly affect the process as we will need to
pause all works, delaying the construction.

Lastly, we included all the limitations and improvements of every facility. Once again, giving the developers
more details when deciding their choices for this project.
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Table of Contents
Using Land: A Variable Resource - Summary………………………………………………………………...1

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………2

2 Introduction and Problem Restatement……………………………………………………………………...3

2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….3
2.2 Problem Restatement…………………………………………………………………………………...3

3 General Assumption…………………………………………………………………………………………4

4 Variable and Constants………………………………………………………………………………………4

4.1 Variables Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………...4
4.2 Constants Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………..5

5 Metrics……………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
5.1 Short-Term Benefits……………………………………………………………………………………6
5.2 Long-Term Benefits…….……………………………………………………….…….……….….…...7
5.3 Costs……….……………………………………………...…………….……………….…….…...…..8
5.3i General Cost……………………………………..………………….………….………….………8
5.3ii Reparation Fees……………………………………………………………….………….……….8
5.4 Drawbacks……………………………………………………………………………………….……..9

6 Data Collection………………………………………………………………………………………….….10
6.1 Data for Crop Farming………………………………………………….…………….….……..…….10
6.2 Data for Livestock Farming…………………………………………………………………………..10

7 Impacts brought by The New Fab………………………………………………………………………….11

8 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

9 Re-evaluation of the Assumption………………………………………………………………………..…11

10 Discussion………………………………………………………………………….……………….…….12
10.1 Solutions…………………………………………………………………………………………….12
10.1i Solution 1………………………………………………………………………………………..12
10.1ii Solution 2……………………………………………………………………………………….12
10.2 Strengths…………………………………………………………………………………….………12
10.3 Limitations and Improvements……………………………………………………………………...12
10.3i Limitations……………….…………………………………………………………………..…13
10.3ii Improvements……………….……………………………………………………………….…13

11 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….………………..13

12 Letter to the Decision Makers………………………………………………….…………...…………….14

13 References………………………………………………………………………………………………...16
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2. Introduction and Problem Restatement

2.1 Introduction

In land use planning, it allows economic, social and environmental values to be balanced, and land to be
used efficiently. To use the land more efficiently, we need to include detailed background information into
our consideration of how to separate the land into several sections and choose to construct the appropriate
infrastructures.
Usually, the goals of modern land use planning often include environmental conservation, restraint of urban
sprawl, minimization of transport costs, prevention of land use conflicts, and a reduction in exposure to
pollutants. Land developers need to go through many thoughts about the different benefits and drawbacks
that may occur. Here are several main components we need to consider when building our models:

● Population around the land

● Local community culture
● Convenience of traveling to the land
● Environmental conservation of the facilities
● Sustainability of the infrastructures

Ultimately, a land developer's goal is to ensure that all residents of that area would benefit from everything.
Meanwhile, the land should also bring greatest profits back to land developers. Thus, our job is to seek a
balance between community values and commercial benefits.

2.2 Problem Restatement

1. Design a mathematical model to calculate the rate of production of the farm by finding the amount of
crops produced by land of one kilometer square a year..
2. Design a mathematical model to calculate the effectiveness of the farm raising livestock. Search data
and find the total amount of meat produced by land of one kilometer square each year.
3. Apply the mathematical model to calculate the population of long-term residents around the land to
figure out the total amount of needs on agricultural products like crops and livestock. This helps us to
consider whether we need to build farms and the proportion of land resources used to build the
farms.
4. Be considerate on what infrastructures and facilities shall we build on the land to meet the maximum
needs of the residents around the land in order to bring in more profits. Be considerate in ensuring
the diversity of infrastructures we build so that both old people and youths can be attracted to the
land. The infrastructures should have both functions of entertainment and production.
5. Analyze the variables and constants of the land. (The variables and constants contain all the details
like terrain conditions, traffic conditions etc.)
6. Find two most appropriate solutions. Compare the benefits and disadvantages of each solution and
pick out the best solution.
7. Analyze the long-term and short-term effect of the solution. Try to add some improvements to the
solution.
8. Adjust the mathematical model to include the impacts brought by the new fab built near the land.
9. Finally, present the solution in the letter to the Decision Makers.
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3. General Assumptions
1. Total land population is >600.
Justification: According to research, the average land population of rural areas is >500 per square
mile. Since our land is 3 square kilometers, there would be ~>600 residents in the area.

2. Solar arrays can be paired with agrivoltaic farming.

Justification: Agrivoltaic farming works by planting crops under solar arrays to work. Solar arrays
and crops from agrivoltaic farming should be paired together in order to perform better.

3. Population of long-term residents around the land is fixed.

Justification: Although in reality, the population of long-term residents living around the land is not
fixed as there are always people who are moving away or moving in, which affects the amount of visitors
visiting the land. We are not able to predict the slight change in population and moreover, the population
density in rural areas is low, so we estimate that the change in population will be sligh that it will not bring
too much impact to our research.

4. Transport situation is constant.

Justification: Traffic conditions may be different every day due to the probability of existence of
traffic accidents, extreme climates, road constructions etc. However in this research, we will exclude these
factors and only include factors like the location of the land, population of residents around the land to
determine the transport situation of the land.

5. Profits brought by farming are constant.

Justification: The profits brought by farming changes every year due to different weather conditions
and other factors. We will search data to estimate and predict the losses and profits brought by farming each
year.

4. Variables and Constants

4.1 Variable Analysis

Variable Definition Rationale

Al Amount of land needed for The amount of land needed for each facility varies with
each facility the community’s needs. The more people of the
community applicable for a specific need, the more
space the specific facility requires.

Ca Climate The climate is unpredictable and it may affect the

growing of crops if a farm is built. It also may affect
the amount of visitors coming to the land.

Pn Community Needs Ensure various needs are put into consideration as the
community needs changes according to the people of
different generations and financial incomes in the area.

Av Visitors and Tourism The number of visitors varies throughout the year, due
to different seasons or holidays. For example,
passenger surges during public holidays while on
weekdays, the probability of visitors coming is very
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low as most people need to go to work.

T Time taken to build the Time taken to build the infrastructure is unpredictable
infrastructures as we may face accidents like bad weather conditions,
it also takes time for us to look for construction
companies.

Climate Analysis: Since the land is near New York, we search for the extreme weather records from 1869 to
present on New York’s official website. According to the record, the occurring rate of extreme weather is
very low. For example, from 2000 to the present, five hurricanes have struck New York. Thus, we can infer
it is unlikely that extreme weather will visit the land and result in great financial and security losses.

Community Needs Analysis: As residents are from different generations around the land, they have
different needs for us to satisfy. For youths, they are more interested in exciting, risky and fun activities. For
adults, since most of them have built up a family already, they are more willing to go to places that are
suitable for the whole family to go to, like we can build facilities for kids to play. For the elderly, they would
prefer to have a place to enjoy beautiful views and rest.

4.2 Constant Analysis

Constant Definition Rationale

Ap Population As we assumed, the amount of population should be

constant.

t Terrain The terrain conditions will remain constant.

Et Traffic conditions We have assumed that traffic conditions are constant.

This is a key factor to decide the amount of visitors
coming.

Pc Local culture Local culture decides what aspects are the residents
interested in. As we assume that the population of
long-term residents living around the land is fixed, the
local culture is also assumed to be rooted and strong.

La Land availability and quality There are no obstructions that could possibly affect the
given land space and quality.

m Money spent for building the The prices of building these infrastructures like solar
infrastructures arrays and farms are fixed.

Terrain Statistics Analysis: According to the elevation statistics, the minimum height of the land is 105
meters and the maximum height of the land is 131 meters, the delta height is 26 meters. According to the
slope statistics, the maximum slope angle is 17 degrees while the minimum slope angle is 0 degrees, the
average slope angle is 2 degrees. These statistics show that the land is slightly steep and is high above sea
level. According to the tree cover statistics, the tree density is considered as sparingly high. According to the
land cover statistics, 38 percent of the land is covered by trees, which is considered as a high proportion and
we can use these wood resources later. 30 percent of the land is covered with crops, 18 percent of the land is
wetland, which we can use as a resource for facility construction. 12 percent of the land is developed, which
is considered as a quite low proportion. Thus we need to put in a lot of effort, time and money to develop the
land. 1 percent of the land is shrub, which is supposed to be cleaned.
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Traffic Condition Analysis: As the land is located in rural areas, the traffic is not very developed and
convenient. However, out of five boundaries that surround the land, two boundaries are county roads, which
are public right-of-ways and improve the convenience of traveling to the land from other towns and cities.
Thus, we can be optimistic about the traffic situation that it is quite convenient to visit the land from other
nearby towns.

Local Culture Analysis: Rural areas can be traced back in history to agrarianism and anti-urbanism. Many
Americans saw rural living as representing “goodness”, a way of life that heavily contrasted the materialism
and selfishness brought about by urban growth.

5. Metrics

5.1 Short-Term Benefits

We are mainly considering the benefits of building the solar array and agrivoltaic farm together, and or the
regenerative farm and agritourist center together.
1. Solar Array
2. Agrivoltaic Farming
3. Regenerative Farm
4. Agritourist Center

Short-term benefits of combining solar array and agrivoltaic farming:

● Agrivoltaic farming requires the solar array to plant crops, thus agrivoltaic farming and the solar
array can work together to increase the efficiency.
● Solar arrays are new technology that can attract tourists like farmers and agricultural enthusiasts to
come and have a look, this helps increase tourism.
● Solar array helps reduce electricity bills as it generates electricity from sunlight, thus solar energy is
almost free and it helps save money.
● Agrivoltaic uses the shaded space underneath solar panels to grow crops. This increases land-use
efficiency, as it lets solar farms and agriculture share ground, rather than making them compete
against one another.
● Certain crops appear to thrive when grown in such environments, according to a number of recent
studies, as the shade from the solar panels protects vegetables from heat stress and water loss.

Short-term benefits of combining regenerative farm and agritourist center:

● Provide a space for visitors, and even locals interested in sustainable farming
● Educate public on sustainable farming and its benefits

These are some of the other facilities and their short-term benefits.

1. Outdoor Sports Complex - Having an Outdoor Sports Complex within the town would provide
short-term benefits to those who are not inclined to sports or exercising for a long period of time. An
Outdoor Sports Complex would provide the residents with an open space for them to play sports,
have morning exercises etc.
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2. Cross-Country Skiing Facility - As our town is located in an area which would experience all 4
seasons, having a skiing facility available for the residents would be a good idea as during the 3
months long winter season, the residents would have an accessible and convenient place to ski and
not have to worry about traveling long distances just to ski. This would allow the residents to bond
and reconnect with their close peers and also learn or build on their skiing skills.

3. Housing Facilities - Housing facilities are essential to all residents as they need a place to live, there
would only be kampung-like landed housing as it is a rural area. People living there tend to be unable
to afford formal housing. There would also be different types of housing available to cater to all
residents and their needs to ensure every family has a home to stay in.

4. Crop Farms - Crop farms would be managed by farmers in the area. Crop farms are essential to
residents living in this area as it is a source of food and it ensures that they don't go hungry. This is
also because they do not have high incomes to afford and import food from other parts of the
country.

5.2 Long-Term Benefits

Constructing a solar array paired with an agrivoltaic farm, and a regenerative farm paired with an agritourist
center comes with various long-term benefits.

1. Solar Array - Solar energy has always been considered a replacement for fossil fuels, even though
electricity can only be generated from solar energy when the sun is shining. However, solar arrays
will definitely benefit the whole population in the long run. Eventually, fossil fuels will run out and
we would need to switch to renewable energy, for example solar energy. With that in mind, the
people living in this land will not be as badly affected as others around the world as solar arrays have
been built in and have been consistently using solar energy. Solar arrays are also environmentally
friendly and they will not cause pollution.

2. Agrivoltaic Farming - Agrivoltaic farming is paired with solar arrays as the crops are planted under
solar arrays. The electricity generated helps run the farm’s equipment, for example. The electricity
can also be used to power precision ap technology that reduces water usage.

3. Regenerative Farm - Regenerative farm works well with land and improves the earth and
atmosphere. It enhances long-term livelihood, by improved crop yield and crop quality. It also
reduces costs and greater resilience to market volatility and extreme climate events.

4. Agritourist Center - Agritourist Center is likely to strengthen rural economies, conserve agricultural
heritage and educate the public about agriculture. The Agritourist Center tends to attract more local
residents as it provides more labor opportunities. Moreover, the existence of the Agritourist Center
allows us to be more creative and innovative in designing activities for the tourists in order to
increase tourism.

These are the long-term benefits for other facilities mentioned.

1. Outdoor Sports Complex - Over time, having an outdoor sports complex would be very beneficial to
those who are more interested in sports and would use that area to hang with their friends to play
sports such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, and much more. Additionally, it encourages
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residents to stay fit which would then reduce the spending on medical resources which overtime
would save lots.

2. Cross-Country Skiing Facility - This brings in a lot of tourism every year, which is during the winter
season since skiing is popular and fun. This ensures locals and tourists will have a guaranteed area
designated for skiing. This facility is able to bring great profits during the winter every year.

3. Housing Facilities - Affordable housing to the residents over time would allow them to feel a sense
of safety and security and reduce their worries of not being able to afford housing.

4. Crop Farms - Crop farms would provide constant food supply to all residents and should be placed
near a water source and an open area to allow crops to grow at a faster rate. Moreover, crop farms
ensure a more stable income that there is an extremely low risk of being deficit.

5. Livestock Farms - Livestock farms will not cost much after we set up and start running the farm. We
can help our present livestock breed and reproduce by themselves and thus the cost is reduced.
Moreover, we can invite tourists, especially those who bring along their young kids to visit the
livestock farm and feed the animals. This brings us profits and helps attract tourists, meanwhile our
problem of spending too much to hire workers to feed the livestock is solved.

5.3 Costs
The cost of materials needed to build the infrastructure is also another deciding factor on whether or not a
certain facility is a good fit to the land. This can be further splitted into general cost of equipment and the
reparation fees.

5.3i General Cost

Here are the general pricing needed to build the facilities:
1. Solar Array - $15,000 USD to $25,000 USD
2. Agrivoltaic Farming - $252,291.52 USD
3. Regenerative Farm - $2,460,000 USD
4. Agritourist Center - $19,267 USD
5. Outdoor Sports Complex - $6,000,000 USD to $12,000,000 USD
6. Cross-Country Skiing Facility - $16,000,000 USD
7. Housing - $300,000 USD/house
8. Crop Farm - $49,520 USD

5.3ii Reparation Fees

Incase of damaged properties, the reparation fees also are taken into account to prevent being unable to
afford repair service and ending up wasting precious land space. These are the general reparation fees for
each facility.
1. Solar Array - $209 USD to $1,293 USD
2. Agrivoltaic Farming - $5,171,827.50 USD
3. Regenerative Farm - $500,000 USD
4. Agritourist Center - $4,000 USD
5. Outdoor Sports Complex - ~$2,000,000 USD
6. Cross-Country Skiing Facility - $1,375,000 USD
7. Housing - $34,617 USD/house
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8. Crop Farm - $50,988 USD

5.4 Drawbacks
These are some drawbacks that may come across with the facilities mentioned above.

1. Solar Array - As solar arrays require sunlight to be functional, this would make them practically
useless especially at night, when the sun is not out. This could heavily affect the land and its
population, especially if solar panels are the main source of energy. We have to take into
consideration what can be used to generate electricity when the sun is not around.

2. Agrivoltaic Farming - It occupies a lot of space as it is paired up with solar arrays. There is also a
limitation of choosing types of crops as not all crops fare well with some shade under solar arrays.
Moreover, agrivoltaic farming requires larger, more complex mounting systems which can cost up to
triple the cost of the installation of flat roof PVs. This costs a lot of money.

3. Regenerative Farm - To practice regenerative agriculture effectively, farmers need to learn a lot of
new knowledge and skills. Thus, we need to train the farmers we hired if we want to build a
regenerative farm. Lower yields of harvest may occur dependent on crops and soil conditions
compared to farms using traditional farming.

4. Agritourist Center - We need to hire a large number of employees since there are people needed to
accompany the tourists to go around the center, introduce the facilities and ensure tourists’ safety
when participating in the activities. This causes a large sum of extra costs that other facilities like
crop farming will not have caused.

5. Outdoor Sports Complex - Having it outdoors may have several drawbacks such as during bad
weather, the complex would be unable to be occupied. Similarly, as our land experiences all four
seasons, during the winter, the complex would not be open. Additionally, it would be harder to
overlook and manage the area as compared to an indoor sports complex as an open space would
mean that anyone can use and share that area.

6. Cross-Country Skiing Facility - The cross-country skiing facility is only available for use during the
winter season as, of course, snow is needed in order for people to use. Man-made snow could solve
this problem, however like its name, it is a cross-country skiing facility. Therefore, filling the whole
facility with man-made snow is nearly impossible. Additionally, the skiing facility would only be
open for the 3-month season which means that the other 9 months would be practically useless and it
would be costly to run the place in the long run. Subsequently, with it being only able to be open for
that short 3-month period, it would also take up a lot of space leaving them with lesser space for
recreational facilities.

7. Housing Facilities - As we know that the land is rural, they are unable to afford formal housing like
estates, and most importantly high rise buildings due the unexpected Ca and T needed which may
result in more informal landed housings to be more oftenly found in rural areas. According to
research from the article, it states "Rising disaster losses and increasing frequency of events across
the United States…. communities will continue to experience increasing impacts and will be
expected to take on a greater percentage of the burden for disaster recovery…" (taken from second
paragraph of introduction) This shows that the unexpected Ca plays a crucial role in determining
whether this type and location of housing is best suited for residents to stay.
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8. Crop Farms - With unpredictable weather conditions, Ca , crop farms could easily face unexpected
challenges. Besides weather conditions, crops could create problems such as the possibility of poor
food quality and destroying natural habitats. Putting the climate into consideration is required as the
weather could change rapidly over a period of time, and will therefore affect the crop farms. This
could eventually affect the cost of maintaining the farms too.

6. Data Collection

6.1 Data for Crop Farming

Due to the records by the United States Department of Agriculture, the average yield in the United States
was estimated at a record high 177.0 bushels per acre, 5.6 bushels above the 2020 yield of 171.4 bushels per
acre. Converting the mass unit ‘bushel’ into ‘ton’, the area unit ‘acre’ into ‘square kilometer’, as the units
‘ton’ and ‘square kilometer’ are more commonly used and we are more familiar with them. After the
conversion, we will get a result of about 1190.34 tonnes per kilometer square.
With this statistic, we can predict that we can harvest 1190.34 tonnes of crops per kilometer square if we
build a crop farm.

6.2 Data for Livestock Farming

Since we only have 3 kilometer square of land and we intend to build several types of facilities, we can only
choose small-scale livestock farming if we want to raise livestock to gain profits. We did searches on Google
and several listed animals below are the ones that are most profitable. Firstly, we can raise cattles as they are
a massive market for beef in the U.S. and Canada. If we manage to raise them organically, we’ll tap into an
even more lucrative market for our beef, milk and cheese.
Raising chickens is also a good option as we can sell their eggs and meat. The constant production of eggs
by hens and their breeding capabilities make chickens a fantastic income generator for a small farmer. We
can boost that profit even more by focusing on the organic egg and meat market. Another helpful sales
booster is adding a “locally sourced” label to our eggs and chicken meat. One more advantage of raising
chickens is that they are small-sized compared to other livestocks and they do not take up too much space.

According to research by Michigan State University, small family farms average 231 acres, which can
be converted into about 0.09315 kilometer square. Thus it is quite acceptable and useful to build a
small-scale farm on our land.

7. Impacts brought by The New Fab

As mentioned in the task, the Semiconductor Fabrication Facility is very large and may leave the area to
have a shortage of land space and may not be able to include all the facilities to make the best town.
However, having "The New Fab" built in our land also opens a huge variety of job spaces with fairly high
incomes which would resolve the less fortunate families' money issue. Additionally, everyone living in that
area would be employed and would feel less pressured as they would finally have a stable source of income.
If the average income of local residents increases, they will be more able to spend money for entertainment
and thus tourism to our land has a high possibility to increase. This will bring more profits to us.
Moreover, with the construction of the new fab, we can try to cooperate with them. Since the fabs could
employ up to 9,000 people, they will have a large amount of needs for food ingredients. As we are going to
develop agriculture on the land, we can offer to sell crops, meat productions, dairy products and eggs and set
up a long-term cooperation. We can also offer our land, mainly the agritourist center as the place for the
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fabs’ employees’ bonding point. This also can bring us a large sum of profits and this income is stable and
maybe can sustain for years.
However, “The new plant will directly support 9,000 jobs and create nearly 40,000 additional jobs”, this
may cause risk to us that we may not be able to hire enough workers since the new fabs have provided
positions for about 49 thousands people. The population density in rural areas has been low already,
according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rural areas consist of open countryside
with population densities less than 500 people per square mile and places with fewer than 2,500 people. This
shows that there may not be enough workers available around the land and if most people all go and work at
the new fabs, we may not be able to find enough people to come and work in our land as farmers, cleaners,
security guards etc.
Moreover, “If fully built, the fabs could employ up to 9,000 people making an average of $100,000 each
year,” 100,000 dollars can be considered as high wages for locals. People may evaluate the standard wages
provided by the new fabs and the wages provided by us, we may have to provide higher wages then we
planned to under the competition of attracting workers with the new fabs. This will increase our budgets and
we may have to improve our metric by choosing facilities that hire fewer workers like livestock farms which
can attract the tourists to feed the animals instead of hiring workers. Thus this can help decrease the costs
efficiently.

8. Analysis
After re-analysing our data, we have come up with our “best” metric that we feel is most suited to optimize
our land space. We have chosen to include a regenerative farm, agritourist center, housing, cross-country
skiing facility and livestock farm. We came to the conclusion that a regenerative farm and agritourist center
would be most suited for our land aas it takes up less space and is less costly. Additionally, an agritourist
center would help to continue the trend of farming and help to educate the younger generation on how to
plant and grow their own crops.

9. Re-evaluation of the Assumption

1. Total land population is >600

Justification: According to research, the average land population of rural areas is >500 per square
mile. Since our land is 3 square kilometers, there would be ~>600 residents in the area.

2. Solar arrays can be paired with Agrivoltaic farming.

Justification: Agrivoltaic farming is a practice of using solar panels to grow crops.With solar arrays
and agrivoltaic farming working together, the efficiency of land-use increases. As it both shares land rather
then separated and having to compete against one another

3. Population of long-term residents around the land is fixed.

Justification: In reality, the population of long-term residents living around the land is not fixed as
there are always people who are moving away or moving in, which affects the amount of visitors visiting the
land. We are not able to predict the slight change in population and moreover, the population density in rural
areas is low, so we estimate that the change in population will be slight and that it will not bring too much
impact to our research.

4. Transport situations are constant.

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Justification: Traffic conditions may be different every day due to the probability of existence of
traffic accidents, extreme climates, road constructions etc. However, in this research, we will exclude these
factors and only include factors such as the location of the land, population of residents around the land to
determine the transport situation of the land, which gives a more accurate data.

5. Profits brought by farming are constant.

Justification: The profits brought by farming change every year due to different weather conditions,
crops grown and other factors. Profits are calculated using earnings, interest, taxes, assets, equity etc. All
this would be different every year. We will search data to estimate and predict the losses and profits brought
by farming each year.

10. Discussion

10.1 Solutions
Since we have a lot of options and after the analysis of each of their pros and cons, we decided to separate
them into two solutions. We decided to use mathematical equations to find out the most appropriate area for
each of the facilities and then use the mathematical models to find out the final expenses, costs and profits of
the two solutions and do comparisons to decide which solution shall we take.

10.1i Solution 1
We are going to build a regenerative farm, an agritourist center, a livestock farm and a cross-country skiing
facility paired up with accommodations (housing facilities).
Firstly, we need to estimate the profits brought by each facility, since the profits of regenerative farms and
agritourist center are hard to be estimated as there are numerous potential factors affecting the result, we
only have extremely ambiguous estimations and we should be more focused on the autonomy, permanence
and future developments.
Let A1 be the area of the regenerative farm
Let A2 be the area of the agritourist center
Let A3 be the area of the livestock farm
Let A4 be the area of the cross-country .skiing facility paired up with accommodations
The total area of the land is 3 km sq, so:
A1 + A2 + A3 + A4 = 3
Revenue 1: A1×$630,000(annual profits)-$2,460,000(general costs)
-$500,000(Reparation fees)
Revenue 2: A2×$950,000(annual profits)-$19,267(general costs)-$4,000(Reparation fees)
Revenue 3: A3×$430,000(annual profits)-$189,000(general costs)-$6,000(Reparation fees)
Revenue 4: A4×$1,500,000(annual profits)-($16,000,000+$300,000)(General costs)-
($1,375,000+$69,234)(Reparation fees)
Plus Revenue 1 to 4 together
A1×630,000-2,960,000+A2×950,000-195,000+A4×1,500,000-17,744,234
Using linear programming calculator, we can get a result of:
A1=1.05, A2=0.49, A3=054, A4=0.92

10.1ii Solution 2
We are going to build an agrivoltaic farm paired up with solar arrays, a crop farm and an outdoor sports
complex, we are also planning to build housing facilities which served as accomodations for the tourists.
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As the solar arrays cause high costs, the profits brought by a crop farm are lower that profits brought by a
livestock farm due to research and development, and the construction of an outdoor sport complex also
causes a great sum of money as more than $6,000,000 USD while the profits it brought are lower than the
skiing facility under comparison, we believe that solution one is a better solution.

10.2 Strengths
Our metric takes into account several factors such as the needs of the residents, the amount of land available
for us, climate seasons and the time and money needed to build the infrastructures. We considered the
unpredictability of the amount of visitors at one time which is very crucial information for us as it
determines the amount of housing needed for our land and what remaining land we have left.

Our solutions are very reasonable as we have fully optimized our land of 3 square kilometers and also
considered the different outcomes it may cause.

10.3 Limitations and Improvements

10.3i Limitations
One of the main limitations is space. Even though we considered every possible need and wants from the
people. The limited space only allows us to allocate a small amount of space for each facility we decide to
build. For example, if the public requested for a larger cross-country skiing facility to cater to more people,
especially during the holiday period, it would be rather difficult to make that happen. This is because we
have already planned how the land was going to be used to the best of its ability, making a change to one
facility would lead to affecting the other facilities.

Solar arrays have their own limitations too. Like its name, solar energy is used and to generate electricity.
However, this can only occur when sunlight is present, this would mean that the solar arrays are practically
not functional when it's night time and stormy, for example. People would not be able to have access to
electricity if we are fully reliant on solar arrays, hence we must have other sources to get electricity.

10.3ii Improvements
The installation of solar arrays would improve the overall living environment and quality. Using solar
energy would not only reduce carbon emissions, but also reduce the costs of electricity bills. Solar energy is
renewable and it isn’t difficult nor bothersome to maintain them.

The cross-country skiing facility could possibly bring profit to the area. This facility could attract visitors,
whether it be nearby or not, to visit the land. Reason being the skiing facility. The higher the amount of
visitors, the higher the profits made. Not only would profits be improved, we would see an improvement in
tourism too. Other than that, this skiing facility is not just an ordinary facility, but a cross-country ski
facility. This would increase the chances of competitions and more happening. With this in mind, the overall
impression of this rural area would drastically improve.

11. Conclusion
Based on our research, we have created two solutions as stated above. These two solutions provide equally
good benefits, giving the developers two options to choose from.
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For our first solution, we took into account the season change and how that would affect the use of the
cross-country skiing facility. However, with the presence of regenerative farms along with agritourist
centers, we were able to make full use of the skiing facility. During the 3 months of winter, the skiing
facility would be used for skiing. For the other 9 months, this facility would be converted into
accommodation for visitors. The season change would not affect the amount of visitors coming in as the
regenerative farms and agritourist centers would keep the visitors entering this rural area at a constant. The
main purpose of the agritourist center is to cater to visitors that have interest towards farming methods.
Agritourist centers provide space for that to happen and the regenerative farms would expand the knowledge
they could take in. This is due to the regenerative farms using a variety of sustainable agriculture practices.

The second solution includes an agrivoltaic farm paired with solar arrays, an outdoor sports complex and
similar to our first solution, we have included accommodation for visitors. Accommodation ensures that
visitors would have a place to stay no matter the circumstances. An outdoor sports complex provides an area
for activities and exercising, accessible to both locals and tourists. The agrivoltaic farm and solar arrays
create a more environmentally friendly area. Lastly, the crop farm provides a stable income and food supply
for residents. Having crop farms would also reduce the reliance on other people and sources for food.

With all these in mind, we would like to present both solutions to the developers of the land and hope that
our metrics will play a huge role in developing the land.

12. Letter to Decision Makers

Dear Sir/Madam,

Our team understands the importance of optimizing and finding the best use of an available 3 square
kilometer parcel of land which is available for development. Henceforth, after conducting various research
and testing on various facilities, we have developed our best metric to optimize the land space given to us.

Our team has come to a conclusion with 2 final solutions which we feel is the best use of the land provided.
In our solutions, we have included a metric to help find the facilities that are most suitable for the residents
who may be living in that area. We have determined that the main factors affecting the facilities available
that are suited for our land are climate, cost, benefits, and also the drawbacks. These 4 factors influence
whether the various facilities are best suited for the land. This helped us to determine the most suitable way
to optimize the land use.

Using the information we found, our team thought of facilities that would be more practical and essential at
the same time to cater to the residents needs and to also ensure that their quality of living is still available.
For solution 1, we have decided to implement a regenerative farm, an agritourist center, a livestock farm, a
cross-country skiing facility and accommodations like housing for the residents to live in. Kindly refer to the
map below to have a better understanding of our first solution on how our facilities are placed.
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Our first solution has allowed the residents and visitors to not only enjoy their time with the different
amenities and ensures that their source of living is not low.

Our second solution is somewhat similar to solution 1. However, we chose to replace the facilities with a
solar array, agrivoltaic farming, a crop farm, and an outdoor sports complex with accommodations.
Likewise, the different facilities have its own purpose and would fulfill our minds of what is a desired land
for residents to stay in. The map below shows our land for solution 2.
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Although we have provided 2 solutions, the first solution is still closer to what we call our best metric as it
takes into account the costs and reparation fees needed which is important as a rural area may not be able to
afford it.

Lastly, we would like to thank you for allowing us to help you determine the best use of land. We hope you
will take into consideration our solution. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any inquiries. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Team XXX

13. References
Sustainable Farm Agrivoltaic - College of Agricultural Sciences [1]
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy [2]
What's agrivoltaic farming? Growing crops under solar panels[3]
Disasters in rural areas and its impacts[4]
Crop Production 2021 Summary (January 2022)[5]
Converting Grain Units - U.S. GRAINS COUNCIL[6]
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: BUDGETING AND PRICING FOR AGRITOURISM [7]
Can regenerative agriculture replace conventional farming? - EIT Food[8]
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Agrivoltaics - Earth.Org [9]
All-Time Extremes Central Park, NY (1869 to Present) [10]
List of New York hurricanes - Simple Wikipedia [11]
5 Most Profitable Animals for Small Farms - Zareba Systems [12]
Small, medium, large – Does farm size really matter? - MSU Extension[13]
What is Rural? - USDA ERS [14]
Farm Business Income - USDA ERS [15]
Agritourism Allows Farms To Diversify and Has Potential Benefits for ... [16]
Cost to Build a Farm - Estimates and Prices at Fixr[17]
How to Start a Ski Resort | TRUiC[18]