The success of a lunar settlement will be significantly and quantifiably tied to the presence or absence of pragmatic zoning policy. Zoning and land use policies can improve the efficiency of infrastructure and cost effectiveness of development.
Terrestrial zoning and land use best practices should be deployed on the Moon. The success of a lunar settlement will be significantly and quantifiably tied to the presence or absence of pragmatic zoning policy. Zoning and land use policies can improve the efficiency of infrastructure and cost effectiveness of development. The productivity of enterprises will correlate with their ability to specialize within a lunar settlement, instead of bootstrapping their own base. Policies outlined here include: a zoning authority to continuously administer and update zoning and land use; an urban boundary to spur urban agglomeration and prevent settlement sprawl; mixed-use zoning coordinated on an orthogonal grid; recommendations for specific activities management; and, quantitative analysis techniques including GIS and parametric modeling.