Landform Classification for Land Use Planning in Developed Areas: An Example in Segovia Province (Central Spain)

Abstract

Landform-based physiographic maps, also called land systems inventories, have been widely and successfully used in undeveloped/rural areas in several locations, such as Australia, the western United States, Canada, and the British ex-colonies. This paper presents a case study of their application in a developed semi-urban/suburban area (Segovia, Spain) for land use planning purposes. The paper focuses in the information transfer process, showing how land use decision-makers, such as governments, planners, town managers, etc., can use the information developed from these maps to assist them. The paper also addresses several issues important to the development and use of this information, such as the goals of modern physiography, the types of landform-based mapping products, the problem of data management in developed areas, and the distinctions among data, interpretations, and decisions.

Geoheritage Information for Geoconservation and Geotourism Through the Categorization of Landforms in a Karstic Landscape. A Case Study from Covalagua and Las Tuerces (Palencia, Spain)

“…In Spain, the main plarming and management legal acts for natural resources are the so-called Planes de Ordenaci6n With that, this paper contributes to other Spanish studies for incorporating geological and geomorphological infor mation as an integral part of land use planning (Cendrero et al 1992;Martin-Duque et al 2003;Santos et al 2006) or for protected areas (Serrano and Gonzalez Trueba 2005;Carcavilla et al 2005 and2007).…”

Ecosystem classification in a flat, highly fragmented region of Indiana, USA

“…Many landowners, managers, scientists, and planners can benefit from the development of an ECS to aid land-use decisions at local levels, which affect overall landscape diversity. Similar systems have been used for planning the Lake Tahoe, Nevada region, and the Segovia Province of central Spain (Bailey, 1974;Martin-Duque et al, 2003). In addition to predicting potential natural vegetation, more complete ECSs can be used to predict the response of forest ecosystems to disturbances, such as harvesting and land-use (Jenkins and Parker, 1998;Palik et al, 2000;Meyer and Parker, 2003).…”

Physiography of the Sicilian region (1:250,000 scale)

“…Although physiographic maps were originally developed for educational purposes, they also possess high value for land planning applications in fields such as civil engineering, urban settlement, natural hazards, agro-ecology, and pedology, amongst others (Dobos, Micheli, Baumgardner, Biehl, & Helt, 2000;El Baroudy, 2011;Martín-Duque et al, 2003;Smiraglia et al, 2013). The high value of physiographic maps is due to their clarity not only for specialists of different disciplines, but also for stakeholders and lay people.…”