Environmental Science

1. LAND USE

2. WHAT IS LAND USE?
- it is the function or functions that humans apply to
the land available to them. The study of land use is
the study of how the land is managed, including how
the natural world is adapted to human needs.
Zoning is related to land use but is
how governments regulate and
control it.

3. IMPORTANCE OF LAND USE
It tells us a great deal about the governments making
the decisions for land use and the priorities they hold.
The better we understand the way the world has been
adapted to human needs, and in what patterns, the
more we can predict future trends.
The better we can predict the future of land use, the
more we can prepare for negative impacts.

4. TYPES OF LAND USE
Residential
Transportation
Institutional
Open Space
Industrial
Commercial
Agricultural

5. ACTIVITY
Count from 1 – 4
Instruction:
Draw your own city plan that
consist of different types of
land use.

6. RESIDENTIAL
•Residential land is used for housing.
The type of housing in an area is based on
residential density, defined by:
• Number of housing units in a hectare (unit of land)
• A hectare is about 100 x 100 meters (or roughly the
size of two football fields)

7. Types of Residential
Density
Low Density
• Single-family homes,
semi-detached homes,
and duplexes
• Have less than 30
homes per hectare

8. Types of Residential
Density
Medium Density
Town houses, low-rise
apartments
Have between 30 to 100
homes per hectare

9. Types of Residential
Density
High Density
• High-rise
apartments
• Have more than
100 units per
hectare

10. TRANSPORTATION
Transport land is used for roads,
railways, subways, or airports.
Includes: sidewalks, roads,
highways, subways, streetcars,
railroad tracks, freight yards,
airports, marinas and any other
land that is used for transportation

11. INSTITUTIONAL
• Land that is occupied
by schools, hospitals,
government offices,
and places of
worship.

12. OPEN SPACE
• Land that is now vacant,
or left in a natural state
(like a woodlot), or land
that is for recreational
use (parks, playgrounds,
community centers)

13. INDUSTRIAL
Land that is used for
industry.
Some examples: Factories,
warehouses, power plants,
or places of resource
extraction (like mines).

14. COMMERCIAL
• Land that is set aside
for commercial
activities. This includes
any land use that is
used for buying, selling,
or trading goods and
services.

15. AGRICULTURAL
• Agricultural land,
which is used for
growing crops and
rearing animals, is
the oldest human
use of land.

16. PHYSICAL FACTORS, ECONOMIC
FACTORS & HUMAN FACTORS

17. PHYSICAL FACTORS
• Relief - influences the extent to which farm machinery can
be used and the rate of erosion of the soil. On very steep
slopes it is difficult to use modern farm machinery, and such
slopes are also very subject to erosion. Relief can also affect
land use through its influence upon the climate (temperature
falls with an increase in altitude).
• Soils - the mineral content, the mineral texture and the
depth of soil affect the land use.
• Climate - the amount of rainfall (too little or too much), wind
and sunshine.

18. ECONOMIC FACTORS
•Capital - this is the money needed to buy land.
animals, seeds, fertilizers, tools, machinery etc.
•Markets - (In this case market refers to the
demand of a particular thing) Distance from
markets affect land use because very perishable
crops need to arrive in fresh condition.

19. HUMAN FACTORS
• Land Tenure - this is the rights a person has to the
land. If the land is not owned by the farmer, there is
no guarantee of continued land use, therefore he/she
only plant short-terms crops such as corn and peas
and have no incentive to improve the land and/or put
up farm buildings.
• Inheritance Practices - this is where there is not one a
single continuous piece of land, and are made up of
several scattered plots (known as land fragmentation).

20. • Tradition - farmers are accustomed to doing things as they
know it and therefore they are less productive because the
methods are outdated.
• Labor - On modern farms what now used to be done by hand
are now done by machines however, on small peasant farms
they use hand tools and generally there is a shortage of labor
during harvest time.
• The Role of Government - governments can influence
farmers towards the form of land use they feel are most
suited to the country's needs.

21. Let’s play a game …