It is difficult to underestimate the importance of being able to visualise information. Any innovation that allows data to be understood differently can improve decision-making processes. The impact of geospatial tools on spatial planning has been huge, allowing those facilitating or participating in land management consultations to better understand one another.
Using spatial planning for land management
Spatial planning is a strategic approach to managing land that considers social, economic, and environmental factors, not just infrastructure. It addresses complex challenges like climate change, regional development and urban planning. Through consultation, it allows citizens to shape the function and character of local spaces.
Effective spatial planning can provide a clear framework for local land management. Planning is, after all, inherently spatial. It deals with not only what should or should not be built, but also the impact those decisions will have on the surrounding areas and wider community.
Land management is a complex subject, with planners, businesses, stakeholders and key decision-makers trying to strike a delicate balance that maximises the ecological, educational, social and economic value of a given piece of land. Sometimes, these attributes can be at odds with one another. Planners must therefore make decisions considering a wide range of needs and stakeholder viewpoints.
Spatial planning seeks to look at land in a holistic way, shaping a long-term vision for land use. Examples of types of land use that must be considered spatially include:
Housing
Spatial planning can play a crucial role in shaping housing developments. Done well, it can balance a community’s housing needs with access to essential services, ensuring that people can live close to schools, healthcare, shops, and green spaces.
The growing demand for housing has made getting this balance right important. Building homes in areas where infrastructure is already stretched is a major challenge, with complaints about lack of access to essential services growing. Spatial planning offers a way to coordinate housing delivery alongside critical infrastructure, like public transport and GP surgeries.
Transport
Transport planning is one of the clearest use-cases for spatial planning and geospatial data use more broadly. By using geospatial data, planners can see where people are, where they want to go, and how they currently move around a given area. Through consultation, they can also see how people would move and what different choices they may make given better access.
Geospatial data can be used to reveal problems like congestion or unsafe crossings. It can also highlight opportunities such as new bus routes or safer cycle paths. As part of a broader land management strategy, public transport can be particularly important to the environmental protection goals of a given area.
Healthcare
As already mentioned, access to healthcare services is an increasingly salient issue. This is particularly true for anyone planning new developments that are likely to increase the local population. Spatial planning is therefore essential to making sure services get better – not worse.
Geospatial data can and must be used to help identify where services are located, where gaps exist, and how populations are changing.
Access to green space
Finally, it is important that any spatial planning exercise takes into account the need for access to green space. Not only is publicly accessible green space a statutory requirement, it is also necessary to sustainability, public health and the wellbeing of local communities. Spatial planning must not only take into account the amount of undeveloped land (e.g greenbelt), but also where it is and is not publicly accessible.
Balancing development with environmental protection
One of the greatest challenges in land management is balancing the need for development with protecting the environment. Spatial planning can be used to create a framework for balancing these needs that is fair and transparent.
Reading about land development at the moment, you might think the entire world was divided into “YIMBYs” and “NIMBYs”. The distinction, generally characterised by an individual’s support or opposition to local development, often oversimplifies a complex range of viewpoints. For example, someone may be generally in support of more house-building, but only on brownfield sites so as not to cause new ecological damage. Others may be opposed entirely, due to pre-existing infrastructural concerns such as old sewer systems or narrow roads.
New developments must take particular care to meet their statutory obligations, which may include environmental impact assessments, planning permission, permitting and licensing. A well-prepared spatial plan integrates these requirements from the beginning, providing clarity to developers and communities about what is permissible and where. This avoids unnecessary disputes and helps projects to proceed more smoothly.
Many planning authorities issue a call for sites as part of the spatial planning process. This allows landowners, developers and community organisations to put forward potential areas for development. These proposals can then be assessed against environmental criteria, infrastructure needs and community priorities before being incorporated into policies. In many cases, such as in the development of a Local Plan, a call for sites is also a statutory obligation.
Meeting environmental statutory requirements is only the bare minimum, however. Across the world, and particularly in countries like the UK, biodiversity loss and ecological decay is a serious and ongoing issue that requires a robust response. Decision-makers and local authorities should not only consider legal requirements, but also how a given planning decision will fit in with their broader environmental protection goals in the region.
Improving decision-making with geospatial data
Good decision-making generally requires one thing above all else; good data. GovTech tools that can easily use, compute and analyse large datasets have therefore had a big impact on spatial planning. Geospatial mapping has transformed the way authorities approach planning by allowing them to bring together a wide range of information about land use, infrastructure, population trends and environmental factors all in one place.
By layering GIS data, geospatial mapping allows different information to be considered simultaneously. For example, a new housing development could be assessed in relation to nearby flood risk areas or conservation zones. A bus route could be planned using local pollution monitoring.
The value of geospatial tools is even clearer when used as part of a public consultation process. Digital mapping makes it possible for citizens to engage with land management directly, offering feedback that reflects their experience. Local knowledge can be very important for good environmental planning decisions.
From an ecological perspective, local people can log sightings of endangered animals, other wildlife, or particular flora and fauna. They can easily map routes they take across green spaces, or issues they have accessing outdoor spaces.
Long and technical planning documents can often be inaccessible to the public, whereas interactive maps allow people to grasp complex issues quickly. In land management, explanations around land use can be difficult to understand and inaccessible. Being able to provide visual information can make it easier to understand and therefore easier to receive accurate feedback.
Other benefits of using geospatial data for spatial plans include:
- Decisions that are evidence-based and grounded in a local context.
- Information is presented in a more inclusive manner, allowing a broader range of voices to be heard.
- Policy outcomes are better aligned with both statutory requirements and community needs.
By taking a spatial approach to land management, planning authorities can make decisions that are both technically sound and generally well received. Land use consultations have specific challenges, so it is important for facilitators to have a specific land use consultation framework to fall back on.
Engaging spatially for long-term results
When it comes to spatial planning, there are few things more vital than community engagement. Decisions about how land is used and managed has a profound effect on the relationship people have to local spaces. Meaningful consultation gives citizens a sense of ownership over local spaces and can legitimise planning decisions.
Beyond simply going through the motions, a well thought out consultation can:
- Significantly improve planning decisions, ensuring they take into account all stakeholder needs and views.
- Demonstrate transparency from planning officials and inspectors and therefore build public trust.
- Ensure a widespread understanding of a given issue. For example, why a certain development is or is not recommended for a given space.
Education is key to engagement. By learning about issues like environmental risks, infrastructural costs or statutory requirements, citizens can make more informed contributions. They will also better understand the trade-offs planners must consider.
When engaging using geospatial tools, participants can easily visualise familiar spaces. This allows information to be both given and received in a way that is clearer for both sides:
How Citizen Space Geospatial can improve spatial engagement
GovTech platforms like Citizen Space changed the way consultations are conducted. Geospatial functionality are changing things again:
Citizen Space Geospatial makes it possible to integrate maps directly into a consultation. Instead of relying on static documents or separate systems, facilitators can create interactive maps that both inform and invite responses. Respondents can drop a pin, draw a line to show a route, or outline an area.This data complements traditional survey feedback leading to better information and therefore decisions.
The platform works alongside wider government systems and supports processes such as land registers, public transport strategy and climate response planning.
When West Lancashire Borough Council used Citizen Space on their new Local Plan, they knew it was important to get it right. As they were proposing housing development on greenbelt land, they anticipated concerns being raised and a need for mutual understanding from both sides. They ran the consultation through Citizen Space and received more than 1,500 responses.
“It’s so easy to understand and communicate to people through Citizen Space. There was plenty of opportunity to just have a good chat about the Local Plan – instead of the public just being talked at, they could ask us questions as well. And everything was in one place, which was great, rather than having a big separate pile of paper responses.”
– Grace Wilson, Planning Officer, West Lancashire Borough Council, UK
Citizen Space is the go-to platform for connecting governments, developers, and citizens. If you’d like to learn more about how our software can support spatial planning, book a free demo and we’ll walk you through it.
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