Position Paper on the Rationale and Steps of Land Use Planning

JESAMIE S. GUILLEN

A land use plan serves as a guide in regulating the growth and development of a city.

It is a managing tool designed to lead a community's future actions and decisions to

preserve, conserve, and utilize its natural resources to achieve sustainable

development. The Comprehensive Land Use Planning Guidebook is an integrative

land use planning framework and its preparations for climate change, disaster risk

reduction, and resource management.

Land use planning plays a vital role in every city and municipality. It is a requirement

due to land and resource scarcity. Moreover, it seeks to balance between limited and

contradictory land uses. The rationale behind the land use plan is multi-faceted and

fundamental for efficient resource allocation. Firstly, land use and resource

management are deeply affected not only by environmental changes but also by

political and legislative factors. For instance, if a new environmental protection policy

is established in an environmentally sensitive area, land use planners need to adjust

zoning regulations and policies accordingly. Similarly, changes in land ownership

regulations on resource extraction can prompt revision to land use plans. Another

rationale behind this is that because of climate change, there is a need to integrate

climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures into land use

planning. The effect of climate change is inevitable. Hence, it is imperative to

incorporate it together with disaster risk reduction in land use planning. As an

example, coastal areas are prone to sea-level rise. Land use plans can designate

buffer zones to minimize the impact of flooding. The land use plan integrates the ridge-
to-reef framework which accentuates the interconnectedness of the upland, lowland,

and coastal ecosystems. This means that activities in one part can have far-reaching

effects on the downstream. Let’s say there is major deforestation in upland areas. This

can lead to soil erosion in sedimentation in the bodies of water that degrades the

quality of water and marine life downstream.

Several guiding principles run the land use plan to ensure growth and development.

First is the watershed as a platform for land use planning by integrating land

management techniques and regulations such as climate change adaptation and

disaster risk reduction methods. Due to the serious threats of climate change and

natural disasters, an area’s biophysical condition particularly in watersheds should be

analyzed well. For specific land uses and development, an assessment should be

made whether it’s watershed or sub-watershed, starting from uplands to lowlands up

to the coastal zone.

Another guide is inclusive and expansive governance involving the government, civil

society, and private sector. Through the collaboration of these three, the CLUP

process can be improved by partnerships among local government, business, and civil

society. It is important to note that good governance involves sustainability,

participation, transparency, accountability, legitimacy, equity, and equality.

The third guide is the co-management principle stating that the local government unit

should collaborate with the national government to manage and maintain ecological

balance within their area. As mandated by RA 7160, local and national governments

should co-manage the territory and resources.

The next principle is gender responsiveness and sensitivity. This recognizes gender

differences and takes into consideration various development aspects –

socioeconomic, physical, and cultural. This technique is integrated into land use plans,

implementation, monitoring, and evaluation for sustainable development indicators.

Another principle is the bottom-up approach also known as the integration of barangay

development plans. Barangay development councils are responsible for the

development plans in barangays which are also reviewed by the Sangguniang

Barangay. These should be integrated into CLUP of the city to align sustainable and

development goals and objectives across the barangays of the city. Moreover, this will

help in addressing concerns in land use proposals among adjacent barangays.

Lastly, the top-to-bottom approach is used in cases where barangay and city plans are

not available. The Provincial Land Use Plan (PLUP) or the Physical Framework Plan

(PFP) will serve as the basis of the framework. National and sub-national plans can

serve as reference for local land use plans.

The CLUP process is composed of 12 steps- organize, identify stakeholders, set the

vision, analyze the situation, set the goals and objectives, establish development

thrust and spatial strategies, prepare the land use plan, draft the zoning ordinance,

conduct a public hearing, review, adopt and approve the CLUP and ZO, implement

the CLUP and ZO, and monitor and evaluate the CLUP and ZO, respectively. While

all steps in CLUP crafting are crucial for its success, step 3, or setting up the vision is

the most important part. This is the foundation of the entire planning process by the

long-term goals of the city.

Step 3 entails the vision that would help the city or municipality achieve development

goals. This step starts with a review of the vision, goals, and objectives of the CLUP.

These could be reaffirmed, revalidated, or revised accordingly. Then, the vision

statement would be formulated and agreed on. Next, the vision would be presented to
the Local Development Council to be endorsed to the Sangguniang Panlungsod. It

would then be adopted and disseminated.

Stakeholder involvement and collaboration are necessary in creating the vision. This

requires discussions to reach a consensus by presenting relevant scientific and

technical information that should be available and understood by participants.

This step is crucial as it sets the directions and goals, both short-term and long-term,

for the entire CLUP process. Without a clear vision, the planning process might be

ineffective and might not arrive at the desired outcomes. Therefore, compelling a

strong vision that reflects the city’s values, priorities, and aspirations is crucial in the

comprehensive land use planning process to attain sustainable and inclusive

development.