Picture Michigan Tomorrow

The focus of Picture Michigan Tomorrow (PMT) is to develop new models of future land use to raise the general understanding of what the state could look like in 20 to 40 years. More than computer modeling to create pictures, the program is committed to translating the images into relevant information for Michigan's citizens and businesses.

With the future of land use in Michigan a key to the state's future economic health, quality of life, and environmental sustainability, PMT works to articulate problems related to land use in more accessible terms, and with less jargon and fewer abstract concepts. PMT is building a robust, scalable, econometric model of future land consumption in Michigan that incorporates the history of land use change, the primary drivers of land use change in Michigan, and new aerial imagery to forecast future land use patterns.

Outputs will be both spatial and statistical forecasts, scaleable to the municipal level. The forecasts will be used to develop detailed reports on the impacts of land use change to federal, state, and local decision-makers. Decision-makers will also be able to look at multiple planning scenarios to evaluate the impact of policy changes. This effort will form a foundation for understanding land use change in Michigan and a hierarchical planning and visualization tool for local, regional and state planners, as well as provide data and analysis to the research community. For more information about Picture Michigan Tomorrow go to www.pmt.msu.edu/.

For information on this focus area and LPI funded research related to this topic, visit the Sustaining Michigan's Water & Natural Resources page.