27. General Framework for Land Use Planning in United Arab Emirates

An integrated framework is presented for analyzing and evaluating land use planning to address growing land use pressures, taking into account the socioeconomic and environmental aspects and the effect of land use change on water resources in United Arab Emirates. In land use planning, it is essential to identify the current problems and then to find proper solutions and their implementation with the aim of planning toward long-term conservation and sustainable use of land resources. This chapter identifies areas of land with high value for conserving water resources to help public sector for their planning activities. A general spatial modeling framework using geographic information system (GIS) capabilities and based on land use suitability units is used for evaluating how planning alternatives could affect water resources and best satisfies defined policies. The framework is applied to United Arab Emirates as a case study. This framework is important for making decisions about land and water resource use, managing growth, growing land use pressures and cumulative effects, reconciling competing demands for land, and integrating land use policies. It is anticipated that the policy makers, land use planners, decision-makers, and engineers can benefit from the framework.