4.3 Planning Elements and Useful Tools
Land use planning consists of the following elements: preparation, information/data collection, data analysis, plan formulation, negotiation and
decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and plan
updating. The elements can overlap each other or be done concurrently.
For that reason we speak of elements and not of steps which may be associated with a linear process. Many of the tools applied also reflect the
philosophy of a parallel approach, as they contribute to different elements,e.g. most PRA methods contribute to data collection, data analysis and
decision-making; GIS supports analysis as well as decision-making and
monitoring.