2 .8
A Study on the Linkage of Spatial Planning and Environmental Planning System toward Sustainable
Development
국토계획과 환경계획체계의 연계방안 연구(RR 2002-7) Yeong-Kook Choi, Seung-Bok Lee, In-Kwon Park, Kum-Sook Cho,
Hyun-Soo Kim, and Byung-Seul Byun December 2002․332 pages․Korean
Spatial planning is associated with natural environment in that the implementation of the first can affect the second. However, Korea has devoted itself to spatial development without environmental consideration for the sake of fast economic growth since the 1960s, which has inevitably led to the decline of environmental conditions. So many problems such as disorderly development of new towns and interference with nature have appeared as an adverse side effect of spatial planning disjointed from environment.
Against this backdrop, some planning professionals have made a case for linking the existing spatial planning and a new environmental planning that is emerging as a tool for environmental improvement.
This study aims to seek a reasonable way of linking spatial planning and environmental planning system to prevent environmental damage caused by spatial development. For this purpose, we first reviewed the present planning systems and analyzed the limits of the systems, and then reviewed foreign cases and induced some lessons from them. On those bases, we have come to a conclusion that we should introduce some institutional reforms and a new environmental planning system including Landscape Ecological Planning linked with spatial planning.
The existing spatial planning system cannot fully treat environmental damage from spatial development because the environmental section of spatial planning deals with environmental problems perfunctorily and the intersectional linkage is very rare. The
environmental planning system has also limits in terms of treating problems associated with spatial planning because it approaches environmental problems according to respective pollutants and it is not spatially oriented. Now the Korean government is making some efforts such as revising the existing planning laws into a new framework to prevent disorderly spatial development and to associate spatial planning with environment. Moreover, the government is trying to expand environmental planning to the extent of municipalities. However, such efforts have clear limits in that they do not have yet systematic ecological information that can be applied to new institution and that the environmental planning system is fairly deficient of some means and instruments for linking itself to spatial planning system.
Other countries such as Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands have also tried to link spatial planning and environmental planning from the early years. Germany has developed the Landscape Ecological Planning system in line with spatial planning system. It also has established the Natural Interference Regulation that prevents spatial development from deteriorating natural environment. The planning system of Japan is the most similar to that of Korea. Japan has yet to link fully the spatial and environmental planning system. The Netherlands has an environmental planning system like Germany but it has not yet set up institution for the linkage of the two planning systems. Instead they have tried to integrate the two planning systems in some pilot projects. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden do not have environmental planning system, but they are pursuing environmentally friendly spatial planning through internalizing environmental policy into spatial planning system.
Especially the United Kingdom has the Guidance for Development Planning and the development plan is conducted in natural environment conservation by Ministry of Environment.
On the basis of reviewing the Korean planning systems and foreign cases, we can establish a basic direction for the linkage of spatial planning and environmental planning system. Of course, a questionnaire survey of professional opinions is a help to fixing the direction. After analyzing tasks which the planning systems face, we can conclude that we should make the spatial planning more pro-environmental and set it up equally with
the environmental planning system and then link the two systems. There are three possible alternatives to link the two systems. The first is to reflect environmental policy into spatial planning without any formal linkage with environmental planning. The second is to link spatial planning and environmental planning of the same administrative level formally. The last is to integrate spatial planning and environmental planning of the same level into just one planning. Comparing the three alternatives, we have reached the conclusion that the second is the best for now and the first is a feasible way during the transition from the existing system to a linked system. The last one is ideal but seems to be infeasible for the time being in Korea. In order to link spatial planning and environmental planning, we need to prepare primary arrangements such as the reinforcement of environmental performance of spatial planning and the expansion of environmental planning system to the extent of municipalities. We suggest that the expanded environmental planning system should be comprised of National Territorial Environmental Plan, Provincial Territorial Environmental Plan, Landscape Ecological Master Plan, Landscape Ecological Plan, and Green Plan as systematically as spatial planning According to the basic direction as above, we have sought to decide a concrete way of linking spatial planning and environmental planning system. First, the two planning systems of the same level should be linked formally. For this, planners of the two systems should survey and estimate the planning area jointly and share it.
To facilitate linking the two planning systems we offer an instrument to link the two systems, i.e. biotope mapping. Biotope map is one of the environmental maps including faunas and floras, weather condition, topography and geology, hydrology and so on.
Biotope map represents the various aspects of ecological state in planning area and can be used as basic information to estimate the ecological value and fitness to development.
It is the reason why biotope map can be called a map of land use for various bio-species including humankind. After examining the concept of biotope mapping, we show actual cases of the concept such as the development plan of residential area in Pangyo and the draft of biotope map of Hwasung district in Kyonggi province. The result of the case studies shows that the linkage of spatial planning and landscape ecological planning through biotope leads to an environmentally good effect.
Finally, we suggest other institutional improvements for the linkage of the two planning systems. We should prepare legal foundation that forces spatial planning to consider environmental planning, in particular at the level of District Unit Plan. The framework of consultation should be prepared to put together planners of the two systems. In addition, the Advance Environmental Assessment (AEA) should be transformed into a verification system that can scrutinize the linkage of the two planning systems.
In conclusion, the way of linking spatial planning and environmental planning system can be summarized into two-fold as follows. One is the escalatory linkage of the two planning systems in respect of administration and organization. The other is the preparation of regulations to prevent natural environment from damage and to draw up biotope map for the spatial visualization of an environmental plan. In applying the way of linking spatial planning and environmental planning system, the most important thing is the coordinated process where the planners of the two planning systems co-work and consult each other.
This study is the first trial of such and so the detail part of the linking process has to be reserved for later chance. There remain many subjects untouched, so that following studies have much to do. For example, we have yet to examine other fields of environmental planning including landscape ecological planning. Moreover, we should research detailed contents of landscape ecological planning of various levels and the concrete method of biotope mapping on different scales and so on. In spite of all these limits, this study is expected to contribute to outlining the linkage of the two planning systems.