The glossary

The Land Utilisation Ordinance classifies types of building use. It distinguises two categories:
First, land-use areas for general types of use:

• housing land
• mixed building land
• industrial and commercial land
• special building land This rough classification is to be used only in the preparatory land-use plan.

Second, land-use areas for specific types of building use:

• small holding areas
• purely residential areas
• general residential areas
• special residential areas
• village areas
• mixed areas
• core areas
• commercial areas
• industrial areas
• special areas.

These specific land-use areas can be designated in both the preparatory and the binding land-use plan and are finergrained and more detailed categories.
The Land Utilisation Ordinance defines all the above development areas and provides details on what building projects and facilities are permitted.

The Land Utilisation Ordinance classifies types of building use.
It distinguises two categories:
First, land-use areas for general types of use:
• housing land
• mixed building land
• industrial and commercial land
• special building land

This rough classification is to be used only in the preparatory land-use plan.
Second, land-use areas for specific types of building use:
• small holding areas
• purely residential areas
• general residential areas
• special residential areas
• village areas
• mixed areas
• core areas
• commercial areas
• industrial areas
• special areas.

These specific land-use areas can be designated in both the preparatory and the binding land-use plan and are finergrained and more detailed categories.
The Land Utilisation Ordinance defines all the above development areas and provides details on what building projects and facilities are permitted.

Local or municipal planning autonomy refers to the local planning rights constitutionally guaranteed to local authorities. The basis for planning autonomy is the constitutional right of municipal selfgovernment. The constitution of the Weimar Republic, Article 28 of the Basic Law, and the constitutions of the West German states have entrenched the system of local self-government. Article 28 of the Basic Law lays down that municipalities must be guaranteed the right to regulate all local affairs on their own responsibility within the limits prescribed by the laws. The Federal Building Code accordingly specifies that land-use plans are to be prepared by the municipality on their own responsibility.

The “kreisfreie Stadt,” (county-free city, independent city, county borough or urban district) a city that constitutes a county in its own right. In addition to municipal functions, it performs all county functions itself. The average minimum population for countyfree cities is about 100,000, although the figure is much lower in some states and higher in others. 114 cities in German have county-free status (status 2003).

Land management is the term generally given to the combination of governmental and consensual tools for ensuring that land is used in a manner that conserves resources and satisfying needs. Land management seeks to combine these tools into an integrated planning process in the pursuit of a sustainable land-use and settlement policy. Adequate building land is made available to meet needs, while the development of hitherto open spaces is reduced. In view of progressive land take in one place while large areas fall vacant elsewhere, a frugal use needs to be made of land at all levels of spatial planning (“land-resource policy”). In its National Sustainability Strategy, the federal government calls for the reduction of land take for settlement and transport purposes. At the state and local government levels, information systems (registers) are to be developed as a substantive prerequisite for careful and frugal land management.

One aim of land management is to establish a closed cycle system, a cyclical process of planning, use, discontinuation of use, vacancy, and re-use. A key substrategy is land recycling, finding new uses for sites that are no longer or not optimally used. The inner development of a community is thus given priority over outer development, limiting settlement sprawl.