Optimizing urban land use allocation for planners and real estate developers

•This research proposes GA-based urban land use allocation models.•It maximizes land prices and reduces incompatibility among land uses of an area for the planners.•Land price of each and every plot of real estate developer/individual land owner is also optimized.•Our parcel based models consider mixed uses in multistoried buildings.•We look for a supporting tool for land use planners, which is computationally easy and effective.

In this paper, we use genetic algorithm based optimization models for urban land use allocation. We consider a multi-objective function for the planners, which simultaneously maximizes land prices and reduces incompatibility among adjacent land uses for an area. Land price of each and every plot of real estate developer is also optimized in response to the rules set by city development authorities. The differences in opinions of these two stakeholders are highlighted for a case study area of Bangladesh. The ultimate goal is to look for a computationally easy and efficient tool for generating and evaluating feasible land use plans to facilitate the allocation decision.