Land-use conflict

Common types

Urban

One of the most extensively studied urban land-use conflicts is that of highways and car infrastructure generally. Because urban areas concentrate large numbers of people in close proximity, the noise and air of one single vehicle is multiplied by the population density within range of the vehicle. The multiplicative effects of density means cars typically represent the most prominent land-use conflict in medium and large urban areas. Heavy road traffic also causes traffic congestion, affecting many nearby residents and increasing pollution of microplastics and wasting time. Besides transportation, industrial land-use represents the next most significant source of urban land conflict. Urban factories have been the target of urban land-use reforms ever since the first factories were built in 1700s England.

Urban planning was poor or non-existent in the past. Both residential and industrial areas require convenient transport. Labour-intensive industries need to seek workers easily. As a result, residential and industrial areas are often close neighbours.

In developing cities or particularly old urban areas, this type of conflict is a common sight. In downtown Los Angeles, however, the problem is opposite. Industrial facilities are being converted to residential use, and the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles believes that this trend will cause a loss of job opportunities for unskilled workers.

Suburban

Complaints about noise and odour emitted by agricultural land uses are rather common in places between the urban and rural areas and may cause the premature removal of land from agricultural use. Urban owners often complain that the odour or noise were not apparent at the time when the house was purchased. Producers argue that these differences occurred because of the weather conditions, and do not mean that they had changed what they were doing. Most farms have, in fact, in some ways reduced their odour. Moreover, spraying may cause a lot of noise, disturbing the nearby residents. As farmers often work at night-time or early in the morning, residents complain that the noise is disturbing their sleep.

Another major concern in such areas is the traffic. Heavy farming materials as well as materials for home construction are heavy and bulky, and therefore move somewhat slowly and cause traffic congestions. Crime in such fringes, particularly trespassing and vandalism, are also common, and affect both landowners and the producers.

Rural

Such conflicts are, however, not restricted to urban areas. For example, car repairing workshops and cargo container storages located near the residential suburbs can trigger land-use conflicts by raising the risk of fire and polluting the nearby environment. For example, oil from the car repairing workshops can cause water pollution.