Table 1. Land Use Functions (LUFs)
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Land Use Functions |
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Mainly Social LUFs: |
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1. Cultural (landscape identity, scenery & cultural heritage):
landscape aesthetics and quality and values associated with local culture
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2. Human health and recreation (spiritual and physical): access
to health and recreational services, and factors that influence service
quality |
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3. Provision of work: employment provision for all in activities
based on natural resources, quality of jobs, job security, and location of jobs
(constraints, e.g., daily commuting) |
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Mainly Economic LUFs: |
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4. Residential and land independent production: provision of space
where residential, social and productive human activity takes place in a
concentrated mode. The utilization of the space is largely irreversible due to
the nature of the activities |
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5. Land-based production: provision of land for production
activities that do not result in irreversible change, e.g., agriculture,
forestry, renewable energy, land-based industries such as mining |
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6. Transport: provision of space used for roads, railways and public
transport services, involving development that is largely irreversible |
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Mainly Environmental LUFs: |
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7. Provision of abiotic resources: the role of land in regulating
the supply and quality of air, water and minerals |
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8. Support & provision of biotic resources: factors affecting
the capacity of the land to support biodiversity, in the form of the genetic
diversity of organisms and the diversity of habitats |
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9. Maintenance of ecosystem processes: the role of land in the
regulation of ecosystem processes related to the production of food and fibre,
the regulation of natural processes related to the hydrological cycle and
nutrient cycling, cultural services, and ecological supporting functions such as
soil formation |
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Source: Perez-Soba et al., 2008