Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning

by Timothy Beatley

"That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology," wrote Aldo Leopold in 1933, "but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics." Since then, every generation has taken up Leopold's search for a "land ethic" to guide decision making which would balance economic considerations with concerns for beauty, sustainability and quality of life. Should a community preserve or develop the remaining wetlands within its jurisdiction? Should a local government allow low-income housing to be built in an affluent neighborhood? Does a farmer continue farming despite surrounding urbanization or does he sell the land for a profit and allow further development? Ethical Land Use is the first comprehensive examination of the eithical dimensions of land-use decisions and policy. Its premise is that all land-use decisions—whether to build an interstate highway or maintain a suburban lawn with chemical fertilizers—invariably involve ethical choices. Historically Beatley observes, many such decisions were made on narrow legal, technical, or economic grounds rather than on a full consideration of their complex ethical and moral dimensions. Drawing on a combination of actual land-use conflicts and hypothetical scenarios, Beatley offers a full description and analysis of the difficult issues faced by policy makers as well as individual citizens. He concludes by proposing a practical set of principles for ethical land use to guide future policy and planning

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tyler Simonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Docked a star only because this book is over 25 years old. Great work by Beatley. Definitely worth a read, though I’m very curious to know if anyone has taken this and built upon it since publication. How have the courts ruled on issues of land use ethics? Has the planning profession been able to move beyond utilitarianism and feeling a need to justify regulations by declaring market failure(s)?

[Lenny]

Beatley is a great writer and takes many approaches and situations where he looks at what is ethical in land-use decisions. The quote at the end by Leopold is tremendous. I've gotta write that quote down!
Recommend this book!

I = PA / T (in a way this follows the belief that technology can save us, but rather it changes the paradigm by advocating that technology does not have to impact the land if ethically used)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really incredible read. It challenged a lot of thoughts about the planning profession/environmentalism.