An Assessment of Land Use Planning Activities through Development Plans in Urban Housing

Land use planning is a contributing factor in achieving better housing development in urban areas. However, the ineffectiveness during the preparation of development plans and its implementation through development control has given the impact on housing development. This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of housing planning and control activities. The best approaches to assisting its effectiveness among decision-makers and implementers in housing development were revealed. Thus, the study employs a qualitative method through in-depth interviews conducted among town planners. The study discovered the most important aspects are the availability of data in improving housing planning and control. Keywords: Land Use Planning; Housing Planning; Planning Control; Development Plan eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI4.3028

From RHAM to RHNA and Beyond

The State of California’s main tool for housing planning is legislation mandating a “Housing Element” as a component of all cities’ and counties’ comprehensive plans. Each local jurisdiction must demonstrate how it can meet the state’s calculated “Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). The article traces the roots of this state requirement from an earlier Regional Housing Allocation Model (RHAM), which was merely a guideline. To ensure compliance, the legislature barred courts from intervening in the RHNA process. Nevertheless, it has taken four decades for California’s local jurisdictions to adopt legally adequate Housing Elements.

Housing, planning and urban health: Historical and current perspectives from South Africa

Globally, policymakers often describe informal settlements and slums in terms of health problems. In this paper we trace the way housing and planning have been linked to health concerns in the history of South Africa and we assess post-apartheid literature on the topic. We note that researchers continue to rely on a biomedical understanding of the relationship between housing, planning and health although, we argue, the links between them are tenuous. We propose the capabilities approach as a way to understand this relationship. Reframing the relationship between housing, planning and health within the capabilities approach may improve the current understanding of this link.AimThis paper discusses the historical links between housing, planning and health in South Africa, assesses post-apartheid policy, and reviews post-apartheid literature on the relationship between housing, planning and health.Results and conclusionsWe find it is assumed that the link between housing, planning and health is a biomedical concern and not a social concern. We argue that scholars thinking about this relationship should consider the opportunities embedded in the capabilities approach to understand health outside the biomedical frame.