Abstract
The Bureau of Planning and Co-ordination of the National Land Agency recently published its report of the survey for the long-term perspective of the country's development. The Fourth Comprehensive National Development Plan is now in its preparatory stage in the National Land Agency, and the survey results will be an important contribution to the drafting of the final plan.
The report conveys a stimulating notion for those who are concerned with rural planning. That is expressed by a phrase “town and country in a harmonious and complementary relationship. ” The survey shows that by the year of 2025, the total area of urbanized land will increase by 50 to 100 per cent and that a new category will emerge for areas around city fringes which are neither urban nor rural. In such an area, living conditions will continue to be urbanized, and more and more people will be engaged in industry and the service sectors.
The above picture certainly excites urban planners who are anxious to expand their field of operation. However, there are three points which I would like to emphasize in pondering the future of our countryside. Firstly, the agricultural land uses, including forestry, will continue to dominate other uses. To conserve natural resources, to provide clean water and air, and to sustain fauna and flora are important functions of agricultural land. Secondly, there will be fewer and fewer people engaged in agriculture and forestry. We need to ask ourselves who will take care of the majority of the nation's land. Thirdly, the environmental function of agricultural land is essentially operated outside of the market mechanism. In planning rural areas with due consideration to environmental aspects, special attention must be paid tothese external economies. A system of public support should be devised.
Looking forward over the country's long-term development will certainly stimulate professional argument for both urban and rural planners. A new stage of planning will be opened, when both sides identify those aspects of their problems and objectives that they have in common and those which differ.
