Beyond the gate: Shaping the future of military installation compatibility in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs land use incompatibilities between military installations and neighboring communities become more prevalent across the United States, the need for innovative policies, programs, and strategies amplifies. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) program was explicitly designed to combat these intergovernmental challenges at the local level. This descriptive study engages community stakeholders from 55 JLUS sites across the United States to perform the first ex-post evaluation of the program. A stakeholder survey is used to measure the perceived performance and conformance of the plans sponsored by this program. The evaluation criteria examined include the program’s ability to progress regional democratic participation, intergovernmental cooperation, military readiness, and compatible civilian development. Discussions in this study highlight the program’s successes, where it can be improved, and how community leaders can facilitate military installation compatibility with urban societies.KEYWORDS: Local developmentUrban policyland use Planningprogram evaluationintergovernmental relations AcknowledgementsI extend my thanks to all the community stakeholders that contributed to this study for their participation, especially to those currently or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Lastly, I thank the anonymous reviewers and the Local Development & Society editors for their insightful comments and feedback throughout the peer review process.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).