If participatory processes are carried out, this is done from the very beginning
with a clear repetition and scaling up strategy. If sophisticated
“expert” plans are prepared at higher levels, they include local experiences
and good stakeholder coordination and public debate. Connection
to financing mechanisms has been established, including payment for
environmental services and incorporation of small peasant farmers in
value chains. The more land use planning is integrated into existing management
structures, the better land use is generally regulated by laws. In
a final step (4th phase?), most land uses are regulated by laws which limit
the room for planning interventions. Thus is the current case in many de
veloped countries.The third phase may still be an ideal, but the development of land use
planning clearly is headed in this direction, being closer in some countries
than in others