The Simplified Local Comprehensive Land Use Planning Process

A. Learning Objective

By the end of this session, participants shall have:

1. Known the basic steps in preparing a CLUP; and

2. Learned to undertake or facilitate the conduct of the five (5) sets of activities in the
CLUP formulation process;

B. Five sets of activities in the CLUP Process

1. Balancing the future demand for, and supply of land for urban development;
2. Generation and characterization of alternative spatial strategies or urban forms;
3. Evaluating the alternatives and selecting the preferred strategy;
4. Detailing the preferred urban form; and
5. Formulating the land use policy framework.

Balancing the future demand for and supply of land for urban development

These activities are more effectively performed by a small technical working group
coming from the Environment and Infrastructure Sectors, rather than subjecting them to
participatory consultation.

a. Projecting Future Demand for Urban Land

This is usually based on the projected size of the population using certain
assumptions of person – land ratio or population density. Some methods described
below may be helpful.

Ž FAO Urban Land Distribution Formula – This is more convenient to use for less
urbanized areas.

Apply the range of distribution of the various urban land uses for every 1,000
urban population based on the following table.

Urban Use Land Distribution Range (In hectares)

Low High
Residential 4.0 6.0
Industrial 0.4 1.5
Commercial 0.2 0.5
Administrative 0.2 0.5
Educational 0.3 0.6
Health 0.1 0.2
Open space 0.5 3.0
TOTAL 5.7 12.3
AVERAGE 9.0

The formula is used for determining total demand for urban land. It may not be
used as the standard allocation requirement for any specific urban land use.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 1 
 Ž Urban Density Method – This applies to highly urbanized LGUs. It requires the
use of time – series aerial photographs or urban land use maps covering at least
two (2) time periods.

i. From the photographs / maps, get the ratio of the urban built-up area to
the total area of the LGU for each year or period.
ii. Compute the annual rate of change by dividing the difference of the two
ratios by the number of years interval between the two photographs/
maps.
iii. Assuming the same rate of change continues, project the future area of
the urban built-up area is projected from the later photograph/ map as the
base using the geometric or the exponential growth formula.
 
A more refined variation of the urban density method is one in which urban land
density is expressed in terms of population density or person-land ratio. Using
the same sets of time-series photographs/ maps, do the following:

i. Derive the person-land ratio by dividing the population of the LGU by the
size of the built-up area for each year the photo was taken or the map was
prepared.

ii. Compute for the annual rate of change by the geometric or exponential
growth formula.

iii. Using the same formula, derive the estimated future person-land ratio at
the end of the planning period (usually 30 years for the CLUP).
 
iv. Finally, derive the estimated total future demand for urban land by dividing
the projected population of the LGU by the projected person-land ratio.

Ž Special Studies – this is probably the most accurate method of determining the
demand for urban land as suggested by Chapin (1965). It involves conducting
special studies to derive the projection figures from field surveys of firms,
institutions and households.

The parameters suggested by Chapin are as follows:

Urban Land Use Category Bases for Projecting Demand

Industrial Use (Manufacturing) a. Ratio of industrial space to projected total population

b. Forecast increase in industrial establishments, by type
c. Forecast levels of industrial employment, by type
d. Forecast changes industrial floor space ratio
a. Forecast number of establishments
Commercial Use (wholesale, retail services) b. Forecast employment
c. Employment to shop floor ratio
d. Ratio of commercial area to built-up areas
a. Additional housing requirements consistent with
Residential neighbourhoods (including areas for affordability levels
dwelling and related uses b. Areas for public low-income housing
a. Based on prescribed standards for each sector
Institutional areas (public and semi-public) b. Based on special studies
a. Based on service area
Parks and Open Spaces b. Locally determined policies

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 2 
 b. Assessing the Supply of Urban Land

i. Simple Land Accounting – The assessment of supply of buildable land can

be performed by constructing a simple accounting table that nets out from
the total land area of the LGU those lands that ought not to be built over, as
shown below:

TOTAL AREA OF THE CITY / MUNICIPALITY _____________hectares

SUBTRACT THE FOLLOWING:

______________hectares
1. Protected Areas
2.1 NIPAS
a. Strict nature reserves
b. National parks
c. National monuments
d. Wildlife sanctuaries
e. Protected landscapes/ seascapes
f. Resource reserves
g. Other protected areas, e.g. virgin forests
1.2 Non – NIPAS Areas ______________ hectares
a. Reserved second-growth forests
b. Mangroves
c. Buffer strips / easements
d. Freshwater swamps/ marshes
e. Critical watersheds
2. Other Reservations _______________ hectares
2.1 Military and civil reservations
2.2 Mineral and geothermal reserves
2.3 Water courses and surface water
3. Environmentally Critical Areas _______________ hectares
1.1 Water-related hazard prone areas
1.2 Earthquake-related hazard prone areas
1.3 Volcanic – related hazard prone areas
1.4 Erosion- hazard prone areas
4. Protected Agricultural Areas _______________ hectares
4.1 Highly restricted agricultural lands
5. Heritage Sites _______________ hectares

GROSS POTENTIAL SUPPLY OF URBAN LAND _______________ hectares

SUBTRACT THE FOLLOWING:

1. Existing built-up area ______________ hectares

2. Production Forests ______________ hectares
2.1 Timber lands
2.2 Industrial tree plantations
2.3 Communal forests

NET BUILDABLE AREA ______________ hectares

ADD: (When buildable area is insufficient to meet the projected demand)

1. Vacant urban land ______________ hectares
2. Urban renewal/ redevelopment area ______________ hectares
3. Areas for increased density ______________ hectares
4. New reclamation areas ______________ hectares
5. Conditionally restricted agricultural areas ______________ hectares
6. Moderately restricted agricultural areas (as a matter of last resort) ______________ hectares

TOTAL LAND SUPPLY FOR URBAN USE _____________ HECTARES

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 3 
 Note: The resulting figure may not be as accurate as desired due to possible overlaps
among certain categories of land and hence double or multiple counting. To
correct the discrepancy, the accounting must be supplemented by sieve mapping.

a. Sieve Mapping – This is the graphical equivalent of the land supply accounting. It
screens out areas that ought not to be built over due to various types of
constraints such as physical or environmental (e.g., flood-prone areas), political
or legal (e.g., protected areas).

The sieve mapping procedure involves the following steps:

Ž Prepare as many criteria maps of uniform map scale as there are constraints
to urban development that can be identified from the various thematic maps,
e.g., land classification (timberlands), existing land use (built-up areas), slope
(above 18%), elevation (more than 300 meters above sea level), hazard
(erosion, landslide, tsunami, etc.)

Ž Block off unsuitable areas with a uniform density of dots or uniform tonal
value of light gray.
 
Ž Overlay the various criteria maps one on top of the other. This will show
areas of varying shades of darkness, from pitch black to completely white
areas. This will indicate areas that are the least suitable to the most suitable
areas for urban expansion, respectively.
 
Ž Measure the white areas first and match with the total area required. If the
total area (in hectares) of white sections does not match the projected
demand, other sections with light tones are added, then the less light ones
and so on, until a match is obtained.
 
Ž If a surplus situation appears to emerge after criteria maps are removed from
the overlay, examine closely the size, shape and location of the white or
nearly white spaces.
 
Ž Conduct an ocular inspection of the white areas to determine if there are any
other constraints that might not have been reflected in the maps.
 
Ž After the ground validation, use the resulting composite map in the design of
alternative urban forms.
 
c. Matching Demand with Supply

Estimating available supply of buildable land and matching it with the projected
demand follows a logical flow as shown in the chart on the following page.

Matching the demand with supply results in either of two scenarios:

i. An adequate supply or an excess over requirements exists - This surplus

scenario poses no immediate problems. Proceed with the next step.

ii. A deficit situation – when this condition occurs, the options to augment
supply may be considered preferably in the same order of priority as listed
below:

 
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 DEMAND – SUPPLY BALANCING MODEL

PROJECTED DEMAND ESTIMATED SUPPLY

YES LAND USE PLAN 
MATCHED? FORMULATION / 
REVISION

AUGMENTED SUPPLY
Supply Management Strategies NO CONTROLLED DEMAND
• Infill of vacant lands Demand Management 
• Increase density Strategies
• Renewal / redevelopment • Improved rural services
• Reclamation • New alternative centers
• Agricultural land conversion • Relocation / Resettlement

 
Supply Management Strategies
 
a) Infilling – refers to the policy of putting to use in-lying vacant or idle lands
within the built-up envelope. A vacant land survey is needed to assess how
much land can be added to the supply by this strategy.
b) Densification – refers to the policy of increasing density of building or floor
space per land surface area as indicated by the floor-area ratio (FAR), and /
or increasing the occupancy rate of existing multi-storey structures.
c) Urban renewal / redevelopment – involves conversion of slums and blighted
areas from one-storey makeshift dwellings to medium-rise walk-up
apartments of strong permanent construction. This policy improves the
quality of housing units and at the same time it increases residential density.
d) Reclamation – involves producing new urban land by filling or draining
portions of lakeshore, seashore and similar waterfront areas, provided the
resulting alteration of natural ecosystems will not result in serious ecological
imbalance.
e) Agricultural land conversion – this should be limited to agricultural lands with
relatively low suitability for cultivation to major food or cash crops, or those
designated by the BSWM as “conditionally restricted” areas for conversion.
Extreme necessity could justify conversion of moderately suitable agricultural
lands designated as “moderately restricted” areas. Agricultural lands
designated as “highly restricted”, however, should be considered “no touch”
or non-negotiable areas for conversion.
 
Demand Management Strategies

i. Improved rural services. This is intended to dampen the need or urge of

rural dwellers to move to urban areas. Examples of rural development
interventions that effectively reduce rural-to-urban migration are the
following:

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 5 
 Ž Vigorous agrarian reform
Ž Rural resettlement
Ž Rural electrification
Ž Efficient telecommunications

ii. Opening of alternative growth centers. Fast-growing barangays could be

assisted to function as service centers for other barangays within their
areas of influence. This can reduce the pressure on the poblacion or
traditional urban center to expand.

iii. Relocation or resettlement. This is an effective way of decentralizing

urban populations. However, the social, economic and psychological
costs to the affected population are so high that resettlement is often
regarded as an unattractive alternative.

Generation and characterization of alternative spatial strategies or urban forms

This activity demands the ability to see reality in the abstract, to recognize trends and
patterns and to discern their implications, positive or negative, for the future. The
planner, to be able to undertake this activity should have a formal education in
planning or at least a certain degree of familiarity with planning literature.

In general, two scenarios are considered: the base plan or “do nothing” and the
development scenarios. Either scenario can have any number of variations.

a. A Base Plan or “Do Nothing” Scenario may emerge. (The RP further explains that
this is the logical extension of past and current growth trends if no major
intervention by the government or substantial private investment is introduced
any time soon other than projects already on going, programmed or committed.)

i. Analyze the existing spatial patterns from the General Land Use Map

a) Identify major settlements and examine closely their distribution in

space. The following guide questions may be asked:

Ž Is there a distinct hierarchy based on the size of built-up areas?

Ž Can the urban center (poblacion) be distinguished from the rural
settlements (barangays)
Ž Are there other built-up areas that are larger than or as large as the
poblacion?

b) Examine the road network from the Base Map, Topographic Map or
Infrastructure or Utilities Map, whichever is available. Note the network
as it relates to the settlement pattern. Check whether:

Ž All major settlements are serviced by roads, and

Ž All settlement centers are inter-connected.

c) Determine the direction of spontaneous growth by visually comparing an

older map with a more recent one. Otherwise, inquire from key
informants. Indicate growth directions schematically by the use of
arrows or other appropriate symbols.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 6 
 Ž What is the general growth trend?
Ž Is there greater concentration or dispersion?
Ž Did the growth entail mere enlargement of the built-up areas, or are
there new built up areas forming?

In the absence of time-series maps or photographs, the time-series

population figures can be used. The information on the tempo of
urbanization can indicate whether there is a general trend towards
concentration of dispersion. A positive trend towards urbanization leads
to more concentration of development. The opposite tendency leads to
greater dispersion.

d) Check whether the spontaneous urban expansion areas are within the
existing urban services envelope, i.e., areas being served by piped
water distribution systems; areas covered by electric power services;
areas with telephone lines; areas within solid waste and waste water
collection systems; etc. If the urban expansion areas are not served by
these utilities, would extension of these services be physically feasible?
If yes, adopt the Base Plan. If not, alternatives to the Base Plan may be
worth considering.
e) Check the direction of spontaneous growth against the identified
physical and policy constraints to urban expansion. If there are no
serious constraints, adopt the Base Plan. If the direction of growth is
toward constrained or protected areas, then consider alternatives to the
Base Plan.

The steps described above may be summarized in the illustration in the

Box shown on the following page.

b. Alternatives to the Base Plan – If to be considered, follow the steps below:

i. Make generalized schemes of the possible urban forms suggested by the

various density assumptions by taking into consideration the outcome of
demand-supply balancing and the sieve mapping analysis.
A set of guide questions that will aid in the preparation of the schematic
diagram to illustrate the spatial outcome of each economic growth strategy is
listed below:

a) Where will the future urban population be concentrated?

b) Where will the production areas be?
c) What infrastructure support services and utilities will be needed to serve
the existing and proposed urban areas?
d) How can rural residents benefit from the urban services?
e) What areas and resources should be protected to maintain environmental
integrity and sustainable development?
f) As guide to designing the schematic urban forms, review the stereotype
urban forms adapted from Kevin Lynch. Some of the urban form
stereotypes are described in Table 1.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 7 
 ANALYZE EXISTING SPATIAL PATTERNS FROM THE 
GENERAL LAND USE MAP

ƒ Identify major settlements 
ƒ Examine closely their distribution in space
ƒ Examine road network
ƒ Determine the direction of spontaneous growth 
by visually comparing an older map with a more 
recent one

CHECK THE DIRECTION OF SPONTANEOUS 
GROWTH VS. THE IDENTIFIED  PHYSICAL & POLICY 
CONSTRAINTS TO URBAN EXPANSION

• If growth is towards constrained or protected 
areas

CHECK URBAN EXPANSION AREAS

Within  NO
existing  NO Extension 
urban  of services 
envelope? feasible?

YES ADOPT BASE PLAN YES

CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE PLANS

Table 1 – URBAN FORM STEREOTYPES

NAME CHARACTERISTICS
1. Dispersed Sheet
• New growth allowed to occur at the periphery at very low densities with substantial
interstices of open lands kept in reserve.
• Developments spread evenly over wide continuous tract; circulation carried out by
individual vehicles.
• Very high accessibility to open land; outdoor recreational possibilities plentiful.
• Transport network a continuous grid designed for even movement in all directions. No
road hierarchy, no major nodal points, no major terminals.
• Activity areas evenly distributed.
• Maximum flexibility, personal comfort, independence, local participation highly possible.
• No traffic congestions, no multi-purpose trips, only single-purpose trips.
This pattern is similar to the native • No vivid or memorable image of the city.
settlements prior to the coming of the
• Public service provision is expensive. 
Spanish colonizers – very small clusters
of huts in widely scattered barangays.

 
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2. Galaxy of Settlements • Development clustered into relatively small units, each with an internal peak of density
and separated from the next by a zone of low or zero density.
• Each cluster is equal to the next in importance although specialization say, financial
center, cultural center, etc. is possible.
• Circulation mainly by private vehicle but supplementary public transport is possible.
• All advantages of the dispersed sheet except flexibility are present.
• If clusters are not too specialized, need for commuting is reduced.
• Access to open country is assured if interstitial open spaces are maintained.
• Visual image of local communities improved but not of the whole town.
• Local centers may develop monotonous similarity unless deliberately made unique and
different.
The Spaniards reduced the number of
small scattered settlements into fewer
but larger pueblos or towns. Later some
barrios grew into large settlements that
rivaled the old poblacion in population
size and complexity of services.

3. The Core City • Development packed into one continuous body.

• No single-detached single-family housing, only high-rise apartments available.
• No private vehicles; movement is by pedestrian on foot or on mechanical devices like
elevators, escalators, conveyor belts.
• Accessibility is high both to activity centers and to open country at the edge of the city.
• High density increases discomfort due to noise, pollution, and poor climate.
• Narrow range of housing choice available.
• Produces strong visual image for the whole town.
• Initial investments are high but running costs may be low.
• Highly rigid and inflexible; any change or rearrangement is very expensive.
 

Some towns accommodate their urban

growth in the poblacion because of
physical and policy constraints to
expanding sidewise or horizontally. Ex.
Sampaloc and Lucban in Quezon
province.

4. The Urban Star • A dominant core surrounded by secondary centers distributed along main
radials.
• Tongues of open land incorporated in the design resulting in a pattern with a
star shaped high-density core with fingers of moderate densities along lines of
radial routes.
• System of flow radial patterns; efficient public transport along radials and inside
the core, supplementary concentric rings to connect secondary centers
improves circulation in general.
• Private vehicles allowed in the fringes but may have to be curtailed in the
center.
• Central core accommodates rapid communications & specialized services;
offers wide variety of choice of habitat & activities.
When more radial roads were built • Very strong visual image.
traversing the town center urban growth • Flexible, could easily accommodate future growth.
tended to follow along the roads thus
preventing the town center from • Costly circumferential road network.
becoming very large. Thus the urban • Congestion occurs at central core and main radials.
form resembles a star. Ex. Koronadal
City or Tacurong City.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 9 
5. The Ring • Doughnut-like form; center kept open or at very low density surrounded by high-density
developments & special activities.
• Circulation is through a series of rings serving the rim supplemented by feeder radials
converging at empty center.
• No single dominant center but several centers which might be specialized. Other
activities are distributed along ring roads.
• High accessibility to services and open land.
• Wide range of choice of housing and services.
• Congestion avoided, circulation very efficient.
• Strong visual image due to contrast provided by the empty core.
• Rigid and inflexible as a form.
• Preserving the open character of the core and the fringes of the built up ring entails very
strong political will and very high civic consciousness.
When there are constraints to urban
expansion at the center settlements tend
to go around like a ring. A good example
is La Trinidad, Benguet.

ii. Characterize each alternative making sure that each alternative urban form is
distinct and different from the others. The following table may be used in
characterizing each alternative.

CHARACTERIZATION OF ALTERNATIVE URBAN FORMS

Option ___: _____________________

HIGH MODERATE LOW

1. What does it take to realize this particular urban form in terms of:
a. Public investments in transport infrastructure
i. Arterial roads
ii. Local roads
iii. Water – borne transport
iv. New bridges to construct
b. Provision of urban services and facilities
i. Water and sewerage
ii. Communication
iii. Power
iv. Solid waste management
c. Infrastructure for disaster mitigation/ prevention
d. Amount of agricultural (crop-fishpond) lands to be reclassified/ converted
e. Degree of public control of land and water use
f. Incentives to private investments in preferred areas

2. Once the urban form is realized, what are its likely impacts on the following:
a. Natural environment
i. Open spaces and wildlife habitats preserved
ii. High quality of surface water maintained
iii. High quality of coastal waters maintained
iv. Clean air maintained
b. City image (landmarks, nodes, districts, edges, networks) and general
attractiveness of the city/municipality
c. Movement of people and goods
d. Access of people to services
e. Relative safety of inhabitants from natural and man-made disasters
f. Increase in household income
g. Increase in local government revenues
h. LGU’s contribution to higher-level goals and strategies

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 10 
Evaluating the alternatives and selecting the preferred strategy. He/she informs the
participants that the purpose of technical evaluation is to provide a sound basis for making
rational choice. Evaluation is primarily the planner’s task. Selection is the prerogative of
political officials and the citizens at large, but both evaluation and selection can be
undertaken through a broad participatory process with a properly designed methodology.

There are a number of evaluation methods already in use in planning but only three are
briefly discussed here.

a. The Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

This method requires quantification, that is, everything must be expressed in money
terms.
Some criticisms of this method are:

i. The calculation of costs and benefits in monetary terms may be too long,
complicated, and expensive.

ii. It does not accommodate intangible benefits or indirect costs of related

projects.

iii. It does not give room for uncertainties in implementation.

iv. It is suitable for the evaluation of single projects with simple objectives.

v. It does not lend itself to participatory processes and is confined to technical

evaluations only.

b. Planning Balance Sheet (PBS)

The Planning Balance Sheet (PBS) is an improvement on the CBA. The PBS
attempts to present not only the tangible costs and benefits but also the intangible
and unmeasured costs and benefits for different affected groups. PBS divides the
affected groups into producers/operators and consumers/users. It is not necessary to
express all costs and benefits in money terms. However, it is necessary to reduce
benefits and costs into some common units to permit aggregation for producers and
consumers separately and comparison of alternatives.

The criticisms of the CBA could also be leveled on the PBS in that these two
methods are most suitable for evaluating projects or plans against a single objective.

 
c. Goal-Achievement Matrix (GAM)

This method is highly participatory. It allows various sectors of the community to

express their bias through the weighting of each objective according to their
perception of its relative importance to their sector.

The GAM involves the following activities:

i. Explicit formulation of a set of objectives – If objectives are already given, say,

a vision statement, these should be broken down into measurable indicators
which will serve as evaluation criteria.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 11 
 ii. Weighting of objectives for their perceived relative importance to the particular
stakeholder group that is doing the rating..

iii. Rating of alternative strategies against each individual objective using a 7-point
rating scale from the lowest (-3) to the highest (+3). Multiply the rating by the
weight to obtain the score of each strategy vis-à-vis each goal.

iv. Taking the algebraic sum of the ratings or scores of each alternative..

v. Combining of total scores by all the stakeholder groups to obtain the grand total
score of each alternative.

vi. Ranking the alternatives on the bases of their grand total scores. The top
ranking strategy becomes the preferred strategy.

When the desired spatial strategy shall have been chosen, the CLUP will now be put in final
form. This involves detailing the preferred urban form. The output will be a revised map
showing the various existing and proposed land/water uses and their preferred locations.
The completed output is a written report of which the map forms a part.

In detailing the chosen strategy, the location of the following land/water uses will be shown in
the CLUP map. Policy recommendations are made for each use type, consistent with the
four general land use policy areas of settlements, production, protected areas, and
infrastructure support areas.

a. Scope / coverage of each land use policy area

i. Settlement Areas – Conceptually, these constitute the space for living. They
embrace the traditional town center or poblacion, other urban barangays, rural
settlements and where applicable, the settlement areas of indigenous people.

a) The Town Center

The town center is the most important element of the city/municipality’s

spatial structure. It is the nerve center of the social and political life of the
town. It is the place where the most important functions are located and from
where city/municipal-level services are provided. The town center also
performs a symbolic function. It embodies the distinctive image of the town
with which residents identify themselves. This unique image also enables
non-residents and visitors to recognize the town and not mistake it for any
other town. The CLUP should ensure that the appropriate functional and
symbolic artifacts are in place.

b) The Residential Pattern

The primary concern in structuring residential patterns is the promotion of

health and safety of the residents. The other concern relates to access by
local residents to places of employment, shopping and community-level
services as well as to city/municipal-level services.
 
The challenge for every LGU is not only how to fit and/or reorganize the
existing sitios and barangays to conform to the concept of neighborhood unit
and the hierarchical pattern of residential areas but also how to integrate
ethnic communities, rural settlements, resettlement sites, and other forms of
human communities into the general residential pattern.

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 12 
 The  CLUP  should  also  indicate  the  desired  residential  densities  in  various 
areas or districts. 

ii. Production Areas or the space for making a living, are those taken up by
commerce, office, industrial, agricultural, tourism and similar activities. Some
production areas are located within the built environment, e.g. commercial, office
and certain types of industrial activities. Other production activities take place in
the unbuilt environment such as agriculture, mining, quarrying and some forms of
tourism.

Commercial and industrial land uses must be properly located not only to afford
convenience and economy to local residents in the procurement of the goods
they need but also to provide employment to a substantial portion of the labor
force.

Location of industries must be evaluated on the on the basis of their impact on

the following:

Ž environment,
Ž traffic, and
Ž public provision of services and utilities like water and sewerage systems,
telecommunications facilities, electric power and service roads

Just how should local governments regard their agricultural lands? There are
certain national policies on agricultural lands that have conflicting effects.
Appropriate local policies should be formulated to reconcile and balance local
and national interests.

For the proper guidance of LGUs, SAFDZs pursuant to the provisions of RA 8435
should be incorporated in their CLUP and Zoning Ordinance. LGUs that have
limited control certain extractive industries must fully exercise its co-management
function with the national government

iii. Infrastructure Areas - Infrastructure areas provide a vital link between and among
the different land use areas as well as support the activities for living and those
for making a living. Conceptually, infrastructures that support the former are
classified as social infrastructure while those that support the latter are known as
economic infrastructures.

Infrastructures may serve any or a combination of the following functions:

Ž To support the realization of the desired urban form

Ž To fill backlogs in existing public services and utilities
Ž To upgrade the quality of urban services to national or international standards
Ž To ensure access and equalize social and economic opportunities in all areas
of the town
Ž To reduce vulnerability of people to natural and man-made disasters.
Ž To support increased economic production or productivity in accordance with
growth targets
Ž To rehabilitate degraded ecosystems and to maintain environmental integrity

iv. Open Space and Preservation Areas

A  system  of  functional  open  spaces  is  an  important  element  of  the  CLUP.  
Functional open spaces are areas that are deliberately kept in their open
character for their contribution toward maintaining the amenity value of the
environment

 
The Simplified CLUP Process  Page 13 
 The following may be incorporated in the open space system of an LGU:

a) Buffers and the city/municipal communal forest required by the Local

Government Code
b) Public easements along riverbanks, around escarpments, or along lakeshores
and seacoasts
c) Prime agricultural lands, due to their status as protected areas
d) Historical and heritage sites of national or local significance
e) Environmentally critical and hazardous areas could be ingeniously planned
and designed to form part of the town’s open space and preservation areas

Formulating the land use policy framework is final step in the CLUP preparation process.
This will aid in the translation of the CLUP into the zoning ordinance. To ensure integration
of policies across administrative levels all national agencies that have functional
responsibilities over land and other natural resources found within the LGU territory must be
invited to any consultative function convened for the purpose.

 
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