Key Environmental Infrastructure Issues in Land Use Planning

There are three main keys environmental infrastructure issues in Land use planning which can be described below:

1. Provision of adequate and Safe Environmental Infrastructure for the growing urban population
2. Access to Environmental Infrastructure for the Urban Poor
3. Finance and Institutional Capacity to install and Manage the required levels of Environmental Infrastructure.

1. Provision of adequate and Safe Environmental Infrastructure for the growing urban population

Rapid urbanization has brought with it a substantial increase in water consumption, sewage wastes and solid waste generation. The traditional approach of "Disposal" rather than "Treatment and Reuse" of water and solid waste has created serious environmental issues. The uncontrolled and unscientific dumping of sewage wastes has greatly increased the potential hazard to human health through contamination of surface and ground water. Lack of solid waste disposal systems has caused unhealthy living conditions and posed considerable health risks especially for toxic wastes, as well as blocked existing sewers. Indiscriminate extraction of groundwater to augment inadequate municipal supply has caused groundwater depletion and water-supply scarcity.

2. Access to Environmental Infrastructure for the Urban Poor

Environmental services for the urban poor are largely ignored, and piecemeal provision of basic services as a response to populist politics has resulted in a waste of resources with little impact on immediate living conditions. 884 million people, mostly in developing countries lack improved sources of drinking water (Millennium Development Goal, 2009). 2.6 billion people lack access to improved sanitation (WHO, UNICEF, 2010) which is the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa followed by Asia.

3. Finance and Institutional Capacity to install and Manage the required levels of Environmental Infrastructure

Institutional models for service provision need to be tailored to fit local circumstances. Even for a utility that functions efficiently, reaching the poor often requires targeted interventions where partnership between governments, utilities and civil society can play an important role. Where traditional utilities cannot or will not provide service to poor, standards and by-laws should be revised to allow small scale providers to operate efficiently. Including poor people and other traditional excluded groups in priority setting and decision making and allowing interventions to build on local knowledge and priorities are critical to better utilizing limited public resources.