Comparing land-use planning approaches in the coastal Mekong Delta of Vietnam

This chapter presents the application and comparison of three land-use planning (LUP) approaches in the coastal area of the Mekong Delta (MD), Vietnam. The land use of the studied area is diverse, quickly shifting and strongly contrasting. The contrast is not only in terms of resources but also in economic profitability and environmental sustainability. We wanted to use LUP approaches representing various levels of complexity and computation intensity, from empirical and qualitative to mechanistic and quantitative. From the variety of methods available, we selected a participatory LUP (PLUP) methodology, the guidelines for LUP by FAO enhanced with multi-criteria evaluation (FAO-MCE) and the land-use planning and analysis system (LUPAS) using interactive, multiple-goal linear programming. We used the same planning goal, worked in the same study area and the same period and produced three land-use plans. We compared the credibility, which is the technical and scientific appropriateness of the approach, and the stakeholder acceptability, which is the perception of the stakeholders of its practical value. The LUPAS map was best appreciated by stakeholders, but it also was the most expensive method. When comparing land-use plans of 2003 with actual land use of 2004, the PLUP map, which is disagreed with most strongly by the scientists, agrees best with the actual land use by the farmers. In the dynamic and contrasting land-use systems of the coastal MD, PLUP seems the most suitable approach for short-term advice, but for longer-term planning a combination of methods will probably work best.