Planning at different levels
Land-use planning can be applied at three broad levels: national, district and local. These are not necessarily sequential but correspond to the levels of government at which decisions about land use are taken.
Different kinds of decision are taken at each level, where the methods of planning and kinds of plan also differ. However, at each level there is need for a land-use strategy, policies that indicate planning priorities, projects that tackle these priorities and operational planning to get the work done.
The greater the interaction between the three levels of planning, the better. The flow of information should be in both directions (Fig. 1). At each successive level of planning, the degree of detail needed increases, and so too should the direct participation of the local people.