International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Zoning is a major component of spatial planning. While urban land use planning receives much attention in the literature, agricultural land use planning has been significantly neglected. The contemporary challenge is how to balance the development of agriculture with environmental protection, while maintaining both productivity and the quality of natural resources. The article examines contemporary practices for land zoning in rural areas and agricultural territories. The experience of a number of countries in Europe is reviewed, as well as the experience of the USA, Canada, Australia, etc. countries. The problems of construction permits, land categorization systems, and assessment of the suitability of land for growing agricultural crops are examined. Some gaps in Bulgarian agricultural land management are revealed. Conceptual proposal for spatial structuring of agricultural territories in Bulgarian planning documents is given.