Land development is the alteration oflandscape in any number of ways, such as:
Land development has a history dating toNeolithic times around 8,000 BC. From the dawn of civilization, the process of land development has elaborated the progress of improvements on a piece of land based on codes and regulations, particularly housing complexes.
In an economic context, land development is also sometimes advertised asland improvement orland amelioration. It refers toinvestment making land more usable by humans. For accounting purposes, it refers to any variety of projects that increase thevalue of the process. Most are depreciable, but some land improvements are not able to be depreciated because a useful life cannot be determined.Home building and containment[clarification needed] are two of the most common and the oldest types of development.
In anurban context, land development furthermore includes:
Alandowner or developer of a project of any size will often want tomaximise profits, minimiserisk, and controlcash flow. This "profitable energy" means identifying and developing the best scheme for the local marketplace, whilst satisfying the local planning process.
Development analysis puts development prospects and the development process itself under the microscope, identifying where enhancements and improvements can be introduced. These improvements aim to align with best design practice, political sensitivities, and the inevitable social requirements of a project, with the overarching objective of increasingland values andprofit margins on behalf of the landowner or developer.[1]
Development analysis can add significantly to the value of land and development, and as such is a crucial tool for landowners and developers. It is an essential step inKevin A. Lynch's 1960 bookThe Image of the City, and is considered to be essential to realizing the value potential of land.[2] The landowner can share in additional planning gain (significant value uplift) via an awareness of the land's developmentpotential. This is done via a residual development appraisal or residual valuation. The residual appraisal calculates the sale value of the end product (the gross development value or GDV) and hypothetically deducts costs, including planning andconstruction costs, finance costs and developer's profit. The "residue", or leftover proportion, represents the land value. Therefore, in maximizing the GDV (that which one could build on the land), land value is concurrently enhanced.
Land value is highly sensitive tosupply and demand (for the end product), build costs, planning andaffordable housing contributions, and so on. Understanding the intricacies of the development system and the effect of "value drivers" can result in massive differences in the landowner's sale value.
Land development places more emphasis on the expectedeconomic development as a result of the process; "land conversion" tries to focus on the general physical and biological aspects of theland use change. "Land improvement" in the economic sense can often lead toland degradation from the ecological perspective. Land development and the change in land value does not usually take into account changes in the ecology of the developed area. While conversion of (rural) land with avegetation carpet tobuilding land may result in a rise ineconomic growth and risingland prices, theirreversibility of lost flora and fauna because ofhabitat destruction, the loss ofecosystem services and resulting decline inenvironmental value is only considereda priori inenvironmental full-cost accounting.
Conversion to building land is as a rule associated withroad building, which in itself already bringstopsoil abrasion,[3]soil compaction[4] and modification of the soil's chemical composition throughsoil stabilization, creation ofimpervious surfaces and, subsequently, (polluted)surface runoff water.
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Construction activity often effectively seals off a larger part of the soil fromrainfall and thenutrient cycle, so that the soil below buildings and roads is effectively "consumed" and madeinfertile.
With the notable exception of attempts atrooftop gardening and hanging gardens ingreen buildings (possibly as constituents ofgreen urbanism),vegetative cover of higher plants is lost toconcrete andasphalt surfaces, complementary interspersedgarden andpark areas notwithstanding.[citation needed]
New creation offarmland (or 'agricultural land conversion') will rely on the conversion and development of previousforests,savannas orgrassland. Recreation of farmland fromwasteland,deserts or previous impervious surfaces is considerably less frequent because of the degraded or missingfertile soil in the latter. Starting from forests, land is madearable by assarting orslash-and-burn.Agricultural development furthermore includes:
Because the newly created farmland is more prone toerosion than soil stabilized bytree roots, such a conversion may mean irreversible crossing of anecological threshold.
The resultingdeforestation is also not easily compensated for byreforestation orafforestation. This is becauseplantations of other trees as a means forwater conservation and protection against winderosion (shelterbelts), as a rule, lack thebiodiversity of the lost forest, especially when realized asmonocultures.[5][6][7][8] Thesedeforestation consequences may have lasting effects on the environment, includingsoil stabilization anderosion control measures that may not be as effective in preservingtopsoil as the previous intactvegetation.
Massive land conversion without proper consideration ofecological andgeological consequences may lead to disastrousresults, such as:
While deleterious effects can be particularly visible when land is developed for industrial or mining usage, agro-industrial and settlement use can also have a massive and sometimes irreversibleimpact on the affected ecosystem.[9]
Examples ofland restoration/land rehabilitation counted as land development in the strict sense are still rare. However,renaturation,reforestation andstream restoration may all contribute to ahealthier environment and quality of life, especially in densely populated regions. The same is true for planned vegetation likeparks andgardens, but restoration plays a particular role, because it reverses previous conversions tobuilt and agricultural areas.
The environmental impact ofland use and development is a substantial consideration for land development projects. On the local level an environmental impact report (EIR) may be necessary.[definition needed] In the United States, federally funded projects typically require preparation of anenvironmental impact statement (EIS). The concerns of private citizens orpolitical action committees (PACs)[further explanation needed] can influence the scope, or even cancel, a project based on concerns like the loss of an endangered species’ habitat.[citation needed]
In most cases, the land development project will be allowed to proceed if mitigation requirements are met.[citation needed]Mitigation banking is the most prevalent example, and necessitates that the habitat will have to be replaced at a greater rate than it is removed. This increase in total area helps to establish the new ecosystem, though it will require time to reach maturity.[citation needed]
The extent, and type of land use directly affectswildlifehabitat and thereby impacts local and globalbiodiversity.[10] Human alteration of landscapes from natural vegetation (e.g.wilderness) to any other use can result inhabitat loss,degradation, andfragmentation, all of which can have devastating effects on biodiversity.[11] Land conversion is the single greatest cause ofextinction ofterrestrial species.[12] An example of land conversion being a chief cause of the critically endangered status of acarnivore is the reduction in habitat for theAfrican wild dog,Lycaon pictus.[13]
Deforestation is also the reason for loss of anatural habitat, with large numbers of trees being cut down for residential and commercial use.Urban growth has become a problem for forests and agriculture, the expansion of structures prevents natural resources from producing in their environment.[14] To prevent the loss of wildlife the forests must maintain a stable climate and the land must remain unaffected by development.[citation needed] Furthermore, forests can be sustained by different forest management techniques such as reforestation and preservation.Reforestation is a reactive approach designed to replant previously logged trees within the forest boundary in attempts to re-stabilize this ecosystem.Preservation, on the other hand, is a proactive idea that promotes the concept of leaving the forest without using this area for its ecosystem goods and services.[15] Both of these methods to mitigate deforestation are being used throughout the world.[citation needed]
TheU.S. Forest Service predicts that urban and developing terrain in the U.S. will expand by 41 percent in 2060.[16] These conditions can cause displacement for the wildlife and limited resources for the environment to maintain a sustainable balance.[17]
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