GIS application in the process of Land Use planning at municipal level - The case of Cochabamba, Bolivia Carlos R. Valenzuela David Fernández C. Background To respond to the need to strengthen their management capacity, the Municipality of Cochabamba, with the assistance of CLAS and financed by the Departmental Government of Cochabamba, conducted a process of land use planning in which it incorporated effectively the use of a Geographical Information System (ILWIS). The use of GIS facilitated the process of land use planning by means of an integral analysis of the area; a visualisation of the biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the area; and an interactive use and updating of the information. Besides, the GIS assisted in the formulation of two legal instruments: the Land Use of Plan and a Land Allocation Plan. Objectives The main objective of the work was to develop land policies to guide the formulation and implementation of public policies for the sustainable development of the municipality. The secondary objective was to develop the work in a GIS environment, for which ILWIS was used. This article will report on this process and experience and the lessons learned from this project Methodology The methodology for the formulation of a Municipal Land Use Plan is based on a process that combines scientific information, incorporated in a spatial database, with the knowledge of the local actors, institutions and cultures. The main phases of the process consisted of a. the preparation of the process; b. an integral analysis of the area; c. a land evaluation; and d. a formulation of a land use plan. Within this process and as part of the first three phases the conflicts and potentials of the natural, human and economic resources, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and threats were identified and evaluated. To achieve the objectives in an objective way, the work made use of GIS and ALES (automated land evaluation system) to produce a set of thematic maps. In the last phase the main objective was the analysis of the present situation and trends in the area, as well as to propose alternative scenarios for the sustainable development of the municipality. Results One of the results is the systematic incorporation of the biophysical and socio-economic information available in the municipality in a geographical information system (GIS). The land evaluation was performed in an automated land evaluation system (ALES) and the developed database allows the regular update and feedback of the information. Through the production of two legal technical documents, the Land Use Plan and a Land Allocation Plan, the policies for land use and land allocation could be established.