AIKEN - Situated between Augusta and Columbia, Aiken has a few things going for it - substantial growth, a strong economy and an abundance of natural resources.

It's those natural resources that city officials are interested in protecting from the development that has made Aiken economically viable.

Consultants from BioHabitats in Raleigh, N.C., have finished an inventory, conducted over the summer, of natural resources in a 66.7-square-mile area of open space in the city.

"Aiken has a rich heritage as far as wanting to preserve open space as part of an overall quality of life," Planning Commissioner Bill Reynolds said, noting the 176 parkways in the downtown area.

Mr. Reynolds, who is also the chairman of the Open Space Task Force, said the inventory was part of the open space priority plan that the city council asked the task force to undertake last year.

Aiken's abundant green spaces - Hitchcock Woods, Hopelands Gardens, Carolina Bay Nature Reserve and heavily wooded divided parkways - attract many people to Aiken, Mr. Reynolds said.

"As fast as Aiken is growing, there's a concern about how we preserve this legacy over the next 50 years or so," he said. "As the city grows, how will we perpetuate the open space or green space that we have now for the next generations?"

The final report on the inventory will be presented to city officials at the next council meeting Nov. 12.

The inventory identified three noteworthy open spaces, which were presented to the planning commission at an Oct. 9 work session:

- Upper Three Ruins Creek, which contains one of the most diverse aquatic insect populations in North America and possibly the world.

- The Shaws Creek watershed, which serves as a primary source of water for Aiken.

- Carolina Bay Nature Reserve, across from Virginia Acres Park.

Sandra Korbelik, of the city's planning department, quoted the consultants as saying that Aiken County is a special area, ecologically speaking.