The Evolution of American Nongovernmental Land Use Planning Organizations: Fid-Bau Portal

The Evolution of American Nongovernmental Land Use Planning Organizations

Bartholomew, Keith

Chester Arnold's oil painting The Onerous Developments of April 15, 1994 can be read as a metaphor for the kinds of land use mishaps that watchdog organizations strive to prevent. With most of the nearby trees cut down, the path from the cabin's front door no longer leading anywhere, and the landscape literally falling out from under foot, the figure peering over the edge may be contemplating why no one prevented him from developing in such an unstable area. And to make matters worse, taxes are due.

The artist, who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area, has been examining the tenuous relationship between people and their environment in large-scale works in oil for the past two decades. Thanks to the Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland, Oregon, for their help in securing use of this image.

Nongovernmental land use planning organizations have emerged and evolved in the United States throughout the last few decades of the 20th century to assume a variety of roles in public planning processes. Beginning largely as “watchdog” organizations, and still maintaining that role to a large degree, these organizations have begun to assume other personae by sponsoring applied research projects and establishing coalitions with organizations outside the field of planning. This expansion has taken many groups beyond traditional confrontation advocacy to roles usually reserved for political insiders. As public concern about growth in American metropolitan areas continues to increase, the trend among nongovernmental land use groups towards building greater technical acumen and creating broader political bases seems likely to continue as well.