The Maryland Department of Planning’s (MDP) statewide land use map illustrates the general location of developed lands, including residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and other urban areas, as well as the general density of residential development statewide. The map is used by MDP and other public and private stakeholders to support planning efforts.  

The Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) created the first Land Use/Land Cover map in 1973 and updated it in 2002 and 2010. This first revision since 2010 includes several methodology updates based on newly available data, including statewide parcel polygons and high-resolution land use/land cover data from the Chesapeake Bay Program. To avoid redundancy with newly available data, MDP’s product no longer includes non-urban land use and land cover information. Given methodology changes, the map is not comparable with MDP’s previous Land Use Land Cover products and should not be used to assess change over time.  

The map aligns with 2018 National Agricult​​​ure Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for consistency with available with CBP LULC at the time of project completion. The map is being released as a beta version for public use, with future updates shaped by user feedback. The next vintage of the CBP LULC will reflect 2021 conditions. 

To become familiar with the 2018 land use product, pleas​e refer to these materials: ​

• Land Use Class​​​ification Definitions 
  
• Methodology docu​​mentation​
  
• Data downlo​ad site​