In the absence of concise conceptualization of planning and land use management strategies, the scope of their discussion in literature has been wide, with different nomenclature for almost similar concepts. We attempt to provide an overview of the models and tools used for land management by grouping these models and tools, known by different names across disciplines and countries, along a primarily urban or periurban development continuum. The objective is to streamline the discussion on land management strategies on the basis of principles on which models and tools are based rather than their nomenclature.