Product Description

"It is the kind of simplified tool that many of us in practice sorely need" - Jamie Greene, AICP, AIA, Principal, American Communities Partnership

*The first computational tool for land development and site planning analysis and design
*Real-world case studies, with photographs and plans, illustrate how alternative development options would affect the project results
*Includes a CD-ROM containing 30 interactive spreadsheets that can be used for every type of land development scenario

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #694162 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 576 pages

From the Back Cover
Evaluate site development possibilities and land area requirements with spreadsheet simplicity.

The best tool ever for land development analysis, planning, and decision-making, Walter Martin Hosack's LAND DEVELOPMENT CALCULATIONS adds speed and clarity to your every recommendation and choice.

AUTOMATE LAND DEVELOPMENT PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DECISION-MAKING

Whatever the project--hospital, office, mall, or residential development--architects, civil engineers, urban planners, designers, landscape architects, developers, owners, regulators, and land use policymakers begin by evaluating parameters, comparing alternatives and assessing the feasibility of the contemplated land development. This process has been largely intuitive, but actually involves an array of interrelated factors and calculations that can vbe automated to consistently forecast many alternatives in the time it takes to conceive and draw one.

Forty easy-to-use, plug-in spreadsheets cover all basic development design issues and strategies and are included with LAND DEVELOPMENT CALCULATIONS: INTERACTIVE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR SITE PLANNING, ANALYSIS, AND DESIGN. Each spreadsheet forecasts development options based on values that are entered within a pre-formatted design specification panel. Alternative values produce instant options for comparison that can lead to more informed feasibility, investment, appraisal, and economic development conclusions.

ON THE CD-ROM

Interactive spreadsheets to facilitate land development decision-making

THIS NEXT-GENERATION UTILITY FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS OFFERS--

* 40 interactive spreadsheets covering residential, nonresidential, and hybrid categories of land use development
* Case studies, with photographs and plans, illustrating how these spreadsheets and design strategies can be applied to development issues in the real world
* Ease of use--variables that can be changed within a single spreadsheet or across several to compare design strategy implications for a given issue
* Coverage of every class of building type

About the Author
Walter Martin Hosack is a certified city planner and registered architect. He has management and design experience in architecture, engineering, urban design, city planning, and zoning in both public agency and private consulting practice. Over the past 32 years he has planned, designed, and managed projects ranging from residential homes to $100 million commercial projects and has participated and led develoment efforts at both the state and local levels. He has also had extensive public involvement requiring client, public, and professional coordination in the search for common points of agreement, and has published several articles relating to this work. He brings his experience to bear in this book, which is designed to present a common tool that will be useful to all development students, disciplines, and professionals.

Customer Reviews

Extremely valuable tool
"Land Development Calculations" provides an excellent and innovative strategy for working towards sustainable land use and development. The models for varying land development strategies can assist local government land use decision makers and planners as well as developers determine the carrying capacity of land within realistic thresholds. The accompanying spreadsheets for the development scenarios on the CD-ROM are extremely user friendly and do not place an undue burden on the user by requiring what may be hard to find or to collect data. All of the data required just is typical of what is necessary to make appropriate land development decisions. As a local government planner, I am working towards incorporating the information received from the models in to the zoning and development code as part of the approval process by using it to further assess suitability of the property for the purposes proposed (a zoning consideration required in accordance with the State of Georgia Zoning Procedures Act). I strongly encourage other land planners and developers to read "Land Development Calculations," because of its highly practical and very timely material.

Author Delivers Valuable Techniques and Tools
This is a terrificaly valuable technical reference for practitioners who need an efficient method of performing land development calulations. The book and its companion set of spreadsheets enable users to answer two key questions: 1) how much can be built on a given piece of land; or 2) how much land is needed to accommodate a given use? The material is clearly written and well illustrated, especially a series of worksheets leading through the method. Another strength is its comprehensiveness and detail, including all major land-use and micro site conditions.

Not much on Retail... and pricey for what you get.
A bit dissapointed that there was very little targeted toward Retail, specifically lacking in the areas of shopping center and out parcel development... but the formulas were interesting, and the concepts that were explained... were done so in great detail.