The State's response, in programmatic and regulatory terms, to major economic, land use, transportation, housing, and environmental challenges is contained in the Conservation and Development Policies Plan for Connecticut. The overall policy direction the Plan's goals, policies, and strategies take is to reinforce and conserve existing urban areas; promote staged, appropriate, sustainable development; and preserve areas of significant environmental value. In order to translate this overall strategy into a visually intuitive product, the Plan's Locational Guide Map was developed utilizing ARC/INFO software. The map apportions the State into eight land categories according to each area's characteristics and suitability for the different forms of development or conservation actions that the Plan's goals, policies, and strategies dictate.