A Hierarchical Goal-Programming Approach To Environmental Land Use Management

A mathematical goal programming model is described for the purpose of normative policy evaluation of environmental land use management on the Texas Gulf Coast. The model's three-level hierarchy, linking statewide, multicounty, and local models, allows the explicit consideration of competing goals (policies) at different spatial scales. Microlevel impacts of macrolevel environmental policy decisions, and vice versa, can be assessed.