The Impact of Public Policy on Environmental Quality and Health: The Case of Land Use Management and Planning

Until now, an approach to land use management planning that not only addresses economic issues, but also environmental concerns and health issues of land use has been lacking. These issues are vital for public policy makers, decision-makers throughout the private sector, as well as all businesses and industries that share space with the communities they serve and draw from. This volume covers the legal and regulatory aspects of land use management, the process of land use planning, and all of the related environmental, health, and societal impacts that land use planning entails. This book provides a clear, multidisciplinary approach to a very complex set of issues. An essential resource not only for public administrators, policymakers, and planners, but for people with corresponding responsibilities in business and industry, their attorneys and other advisors, and for their colleagues with similar concerns.

Because of their inestimable importance, land use decisions require thorough study and evaluation before project implementation—but what makes this a challenge is the uncommon breadth of knowledge and familiarity with a wide range of disciplines that decision makers must process—and yet few have the necessary background and training. El-Ahraf, Qayoumi, and Dowd have thus had to attack their topic from a variety of viewpoints and disciplines, such as urban plannning, environmental science, energy use, public health, as well as from the viewpoints of people whose concerns are primarily socioeconomic and legal. They take these disparate and often conflicting viewpoints and integrate them, giving readers a systematic way to acquire a holistic appreciation of the topic. Although the book focuses primarily on land use in the United States, it borrows relevant examples from international data. It is therefore useful not only as a text for college courses in the area of public health and urban planning, but as a reference for professionals in many different fields with related concerns.