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15 Nat. Resources J. 511 (1975)
Land Use Planning and Control in the German Federal Republic

handle is hein.journals/narj15 and id is 529 raw text is: LAND USE PLANNING AND CONTROL IN
THE GERMAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC*
NORMAN WENGERT**
By American standards, land use planning and control in Germany
is highly developed. In its effects it is considerably more comprehen-
sive than land use planning in the United States, blanketing the entire
country and dealing with a wide range of land use related subjects.
Some would conclude, therefore, that it is more restrictive of both
governmental and individual initiative and action. In any case, it
seems obvious that the German experience would have considerable
relevance to the American situation, if only because levels of indus-
trialization are generally comparable, and both countries share a
commitment to a market economic system and to democratic
individualism.
Although the literature on land use planning and control in the
German Federal Republic' is substantial, very little has been written
in English, and few German writings on the subject have been trans-
lated. This article is, therefore, a beginning attempt to remedy this
lack. In reviewing German land use planning and control it will sug-
gest some of the background factors which have conditioned the
German approach, examine relevant provisions of the Basic Law
(Constitution),2 and review the statutory and administrative struc-
ture within which planning takes place.'
Land use planning and control in the German Federal Republic
*The research on which this article is based was supported in part by a Fellowship from
the Fonds fiir Umweltstudien, Bonn, Germany.
**Member, Wisconsin Bar; Professor of Political Science, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado 80251.
1. This article deals exclusively with the German Federal Republic; nothing is said about
the German Democratic Republic. When the terms German or Germany are used they
apply to the German Federal Republic (or West Germany).
2. The Basic Law of 23 May 1949 (Grundgesetz), Bundesgesetzblatt, S. 1. The Bundes-
gesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette) will hereinafter be cited as BGBI. S. 1, the S meaning
seite or page and the number being the page number. In this article, 9erman terms or
their equivalent English translations are used interchangeably as the sense seems to require.
All translations are those of the author. The Press and Information Office of the Govern-
ment of the Federal Republic of Germany has issued an English version of the Basic Law,
translated by the Linguistic Section of the Foreign Office (printed by Wiesbadener
Graphische Betriebe GmbH, 6200 Wiesbaden).
3. A useful overview of the German governmental system (and one much used by
German citizens and frequently reissued in new editions) is the Staatbiirgertaschenbuch
(Citizen's Handbook), by Dr. Otto Model and Dr. Carl Creifelds, C. H. Beck'sche Ver-
glasbuchhandlung, Miinchen und Berlin (various years depending on the edition).

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