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Uncertainties in land use data may have substantial effects on environmental planning recommendations: A plea for careful consideration
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0260302 (2021), PLoS ONE, PLOS ONE 16 (2021), Nr. 11, PLOS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2021.
-
Abstract
- A key challenge of environmental planning is to craft recommendations for future sustainable spatial development amid ubiquitous uncertainties. This paper aims to explore how different data uncertainties, usually unknown to the planner, may influence environmental planning recommendations. We apply a case study-based approach, in which we provide three illustrative examples of how data with different kinds and levels of uncertainty affect environmental assessments and, by that, the decision-support provided by environmental planning. The cases stem from different spatial levels in Germany and consider ‘Regional soil-based climate change mitigation’ in the region of Hannover, ‘State-wide habitat conservation siting’ in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, and ‘National renewable energy planning’. Based on the three examples, we discuss implications for planning practice and derive recommendations for further research. The three cases studies illustrate the substantial effects of data uncertainty on environmental assessments and planning recommendations derived from those results. We identify four problem constellations of dealing with data uncertainty in environmental planning that relate to the severeness of uncertainty impacts, the responsibility of the decision-maker, and the kinds of impacts that wrong decisions may have. We close with recommendations for further research, among others to develop robust and pragmatic methods for identifying the uncertainty levels in environmental data and assessment results.
- Subjects :
- Atmospheric Science
Climate Change
Science
Social Sciences
Human Geography
Geographical locations
Germany
Natural Resources
Land Use
ddc:610
European Union
Dewey Decimal Classification::500 | Naturwissenschaften
Conservation Science
Wind Power
Climatology
Geography
Ecology
environmental assessments
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
environmental planning
Uncertainty
Chemical Compounds
Biology and Life Sciences
Sustainable Development
Carbon Dioxide
Habitats
Energy and Power
Europe
Chemistry
Physical Sciences
sustainable spatial development
Earth Sciences
Engineering and Technology
Medicine
Environment Design
ddc:500
Alternative Energy
People and places
Dewey Decimal Classification::600 | Technik::610 | Medizin, Gesundheit
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f001eb78331f91fa7e9e63f2cbfc99a2