Development and application of a low impact development (LID)-based district unit planning model

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a low impact development-based district unit planning (LID-DP) model and to verify the model by applying it to a test site. To develop the model, we identified various barriers to the urban planning process and examined the advantages of various LID-related techniques to determine where in the urban development process LID would provide the greatest benefit. The resulting model provides (1) a set of district unit planning processes that consider LID standards and (2) a set of evaluation methods that measure the benefits of the LID-DP model over standard urban development practices. The developed LID-DP process is composed of status analysis, comprehensive analysis, basic plan, and sectoral plans. To determine whether the LID-DP model met the proposed LID targets, we applied the model to a test site in Cheongju City, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, Republic of Korea. The test simulation showed that the LID-DP plan reduced nonpoint source pollutants (total nitrogen, 113%; total phosphorous, 193%; and biological oxygen demand, 199%); reduced rainfall runoff (infiltration volume, 102%; surface runoff, 101%); and improved the conservation rate of the natural environment area (132%). The successful application of this model also lent support for the greater importance of non-structural techniques over structural techniques in urban planning when taking ecological factors into account.