Municipal Master Plan Research Articles

Actors in the spotlight: scrutinising how actors affect strategic environmental assessment towards sustainability in municipal master plans

ABSTRACT Changing the paradigm towards sustainability falls implicitly in transforming the urban systems, as most of the world's population lives in cities. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process is relevant in this context because it supports the evaluation of the sustainability of the plans and promotes open and accountable decision-making. However, SEA processes are embedded in a broader decision-making context, where the different roles of the actors and their impacts on the planning process remain unclear. This study explores the contributions of the SEA actors and how they influence the outcomes of SEA towards sustainability, employing a case study research design and a content analysis on the SEA of 12 Municipal Master Plans (MMP) in Portugal. Results show that public participation tends to be weak and is only sought after all decisions have been made in the planning process. The study revealed that the SEA practitioner’s role is distanced from the MMP planning team, constraining their capacity to influence the plan development. The results highlighted the significance of initiating actors’ involvement at the beginning of the assessment process and improving the knowledge exchange between the actors. These strategies have the potential to foster collaboration, transparency, and a more integrated approach to SEA.

Evaluating geographical accessibility to healthcare centres in Nagaon Municipal Master Plan area using GIS: obstacles and prospects

Evaluating geographical accessibility to healthcare centres in Nagaon Municipal Master Plan area using GIS: obstacles and prospects

A Carta de Património Arqueológico do PDM do Porto Possibilidades e limites de uma cartografia da memória e mutabilidade da cidade. Parte II – Para além do Centro Histórico

This article’s second part concludes the presentation of the archaeological safeguarding areas included on the Municipal Master Plan of Porto. Aside from the multiple and dense vestiges known at the Historic Centre, the municipal territory holds a variety of remains referring to different inhabiting strategies over time. Recognizing the cultural signifi cance of this diversity can help revitalize the memory of the city, understand its transformations, and explore its temporal depth as a resource for urban and social development

Supporting method of compact city planning in local metropolitan areas across prefectural borders

AbstractThis study examines and visualizes a future urban structure of local metropolitan areas that extend over prefectural borders as in the case of Sinjiko‐nakaumi metropolitan areas located across Tottori prefecture and Shimane prefecture. First, we constructed an expert system based on prefectural and city administrative plans in the metropolitan urban area, showing a compact city model (Scenario 1). Second, we developed a compact city model to reflect potential development、 taking into account agricultural land conversions (Scenario 2). By comparing the results of these scenarios, we found that it is possible to visualize an intensive urban structure that takes into account the possibility of urban sprawl given that the conversion of agricultural land in suburban areas is only allowed at a certain level of development. Additionally, we identified inadequacies in existing compact‐city construction plans. To plan an effective urban structure for metropolitan areas situated on prefectural borders, it is important to emphasize the necessity of collaboration between municipalities in developing master plans for urban planning in areas located at or near borders. It is also necessary to review and redesign municipal master plans to ensure mutually convenient locations for facilities near borders and to regulate development in suburban areas.

Grounded in the Landscape—Climate Action, Well-Being and Public Space in a Small Town in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Retaining their ancestral footprint, rural settlements anchored developments driven by suburbanisation and became small towns embedded in the generic metropolitan landscape in the late 20th century. In subsequent phases, they integrated the functional diversity necessary to maintain a certain autonomy, while always being rooted in a community whose bonds are densified. In the specific case of Queijas, in the municipality of Oeiras (Lisbon metropolitan area), apart from the recent identification of the historical nucleus and the maintenance of public spaces, one can infer from the Oeiras Municipal Master Plan (2022) the need for an integrated approach to urban design and planning, which is linked to the requalification of place and the community. That is how climate action, well-being and public space took priority as the leading factors in the present study.

Fragmented City Planning as Seen in the Diagram of the Consolidated Maps of a Municipal Master Plan and a City Planning Area Master Plan

Fragmented City Planning as Seen in the Diagram of the Consolidated Maps of a Municipal Master Plan and a City Planning Area Master Plan

Planning as an instrument for protecting the Guarani Aquifer, municipality of Ribeirão Preto/SP, Brazil

The Municipal Master Plan and its complementary Legislation have the function of determining rules for conducting the urban development of a city, so that the impacts of anthropic activities on the natural environment are minimized and the social function of the property is guaranteed. This research aimed to analyze the advances and setbacks of urban legislation in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto/SP, Brazil, with regard to the protection of the recharge area of the Guarani Aquifer. To this end, the initial versions and respective revisions of the Municipal Master Plan (Municipal Complementary Laws nos. 501/1995, 1,573/2003 and 2,866/2018) and of the Land Subdivision, Use and Occupation Law (Municipal Complementary Law no. 2,157/ 2007 and Complementary Municipal Law Project nº 11/2022), with emphasis on the analysis of the update of the territorial organization criteria for this area. Restrictions were added to the territorial organization in the last version of the Municipal Master Plan, however, retrogressions were observed in the urbanistic requirements in the revision of the Law of Subdivision, Use and Land Occupation in relation to the protection of the recharge area of the Guarani Aquifer.

Goals à la carte: selective translation of the Sustainable Development Goals in strategic municipal planning in Norway

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are promoted as a global action plan for transformational change. Through calls to localise the global agenda, local governments have been made key actors in implementing the agenda. In Norway, the government ascribes municipalities a formal role in the national effort to implement the SDGs. Drawing on the concept of policy translation, we explore localisation processes at the strategic level of planning in Norwegian municipalities. Through analysis of municipal master plans and interviews with planners, we find that municipalities use a selective approach, prioritising goals that largely support existing policies, while more challenging goals become lost in translation. We argue that while the Norwegian planning system provides an institutional framework for implementing and following up on the SDGs, new rounds of translation will be needed to also handle difficult goals, if the SDGs are to create actual and much-needed policy change.

Filling in the Spaces: Compactifying Cities towards Accessibility and Active Transport

Compactification of cities, i.e., the opposite of urban sprawl, has been increasingly presented in the literature as a possible solution to reduce the carbon footprint and promote the sustainability of current urban environments. Compact environments have higher concentrations of interaction opportunities, smaller distances to them, and the potential for increased active mode shares, leading to less transport-related energy consumption and associated emissions. This article presents a GIS-based quantitative methodology to estimate on how much can be gained in that respect if vacant spaces within a city were urbanized, according to the municipal master plan, using four indicators: accessibility, active modal share, transport energy consumption, and a 15-minute city analysis. The methodology is applied to a case study, in which the city of Coimbra, Portugal, and a compact version of itself are compared. Results show the compact layout improves all indicators, with averages per inhabitant improving by 20% to 92%, depending on the scenario assumed for cycling, and is more equitable.

A Carta de Património Arqueológico do PDM do Porto Possibilidades e Limites de uma Cartografia da Memória e Mutabilidade da Cidade. Parte I – Centro Histórico E Áreas Adjacentes

This text aims to present the Archaeological Heritage Charter of the current Municipal Master Plan of Porto (MMPP), discussing both its limits and possibilities. To this end, we will focus on reviewing an earlier version of the charter and explain how the new safeguarded archaeological areas were defi ned. By looking at the Porto 2030 Strategy defi ned at the MMPP, in which different city models/policies were discussed such as a smart city or green city, the importance of considering the concept of the deep city is emphasized. That is, a city model that values the mutability of spaces and their temporal dimension as an intrinsic characteristic of urban spaces and, therefore, understands the archaeological remains as resources to promote the quality of the urban spaces, the well-being of the community, and the attractiveness of the territory. It is from this perspective that the remains and other traces supporting the archaeological safeguarded areas are briefl y presented, demonstrating their multi-temporal character and highlighting their scientifi c, heritage and urban value

The research-practice gap: comparing planning and morphologically based proposals

The gap between morphological knowledge and urban planning is a major problem. The absent or insufficient morphological components of most planning instruments, like municipal plans, seem to reduce planning ability to define adequate rules for urban form transformation. This paper suggests that an integrated methodology for Morphological Analysis and Prescription (MAP), which benefits from the convergence of key complementary methods—morphological regionalization, typological process, and configurational analysis—can be a powerful tool to support planning practice, enabling a structural and comprehensive understanding of urban form dynamics. The Amial area, in Oporto, Portugal, is the setting for comparing the morphological analysis and proposals of MAP and the Oporto municipal master plan (Plano Diretor Municipal), and empirically examining the robustness of MAP.

Analysis of urban parameters via geoprocessing as a basis for city's master plans: the case of Ribeirão da Neves city/ MG – Brazil

PurposeThe intention of this work is to generate a tool to facilitate the visualization of urban parameters, critically discussing the current form of urban planning in Brazil and thus facilitate popular participation in decisions, considering that since 2001, it is foreseen by law that the elaboration processes of municipal urban plans in Brazil must have popular participation in order to be legitimized.Design/methodology/approachThe method consists of three-dimensionally modeling the constructive potential within the lots, using the parameters of the Ribeirão das Neves city master plan (State of Minas Gerais, Brazil), using computer software, to predict the impact on landscape that the parameters generate and comparing different software programs.FindingsWith the proposed tool, it became clear that many of the city's parameters alone cannot reach the guidelines of the master plan, and the comparison of two software programs generated options for different local realities. It is a methodology that is able to provide excellent support for urban planning laws in Brazil to be more effective and less delayed.Originality/valueThe software was configured with a script developed by the Geoprocessing Laboratory of a university in Brazil and was used for the first time to completely analyze a municipal master plan for the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, generating a tool able to be used in master plans' review.

EDUCATION CHARTERS: INSTRUMENTS OF WHAT?

This article is the second in a line of research entitled "Instruments for territorial management", which seeks to analyse the use and valuation, by municipalities, of instruments such as the Municipal Master Plan (MP), the Educational Charter (EC), the Municipal Civil Protection Plans and also the identification of existing participation instruments in the different municipalities. In the present case, we seek to know practices and perceptions about the Educational Charter through the analysis of 44 Educational Charters and by conducting interviews with municipal representatives about this instrument for territorial management. The data collected indicate that, despite the explanation about the importance of this document, it is, in many municipalities, completely out of date and, probably, of no use. There seems to be, currently, a perspective that it should contemplate other educational dynamics than those of formal education and that it is essential to contemplate its connection to other territorial management instruments in the sense of an effective implementation of municipal educational policies considering an integrated territorial vision.

Integrated Analysis of Municipal Master Plans and Multi-Year Plans in Light of Solid Waste Management: A Study Applied to the Southwestern Paraná State

Purpose: The objective was to evaluate public policies related to municipal solid waste management in the southwest region of Paraná from an integrated analysis of municipal master plans and multi-annual plans. Method/design/approach: The research is methodologically supported by the bibliographic and documentary analysis of secondary data, mainly from the Master Plans and Municipal Pluriannual Plans of the analysed municipalities and was developed in three phases: the first exploratory phase; the second descriptive, and finally, the third analytical phase. Results and conclusion: The results showed that references were found in the master plans that can contribute to the implementation of integrated solid waste management together with urban planning, mainly from an environmental perspective. In all PPAs there were budget programs aimed at solid waste management, which is within the environmental dimension. Research implications: The research demonstrate the need to align budget and planning instruments to ensure that public policies are effective and are in line with the assumptions of national policies. Originality/value: A method of integrated analysis of budgetary instruments and municipal planning applied to waste management is presented, but which can be replicated in other areas. In addition, it contributes to the discussion of socio-environmental management practices in the municipalities and their alignment with the dimensions of sustainable development.

Municipal master plan for urban afforestation in a small town in Zona da Mata Mineira

OThe present work aimed to evaluate the existing afforestation in the central squares and public roads of the city of Guarará, MG. In the survey, 32 trees and 2 palm trees were identified, totaling 34 individuals, in 6 botanical families and 6 species, including unidentified ones. Individuals were evaluated: Identification of the origin of the planted species, Size, Root system about damage to sidewalks, Conflicts with pedestrians, For the species that were evaluated, the lack of planning of afforestation was analyzed, which presented trees in a bad situation with some evaluated characteristics identified. It is concluded Of the trees evaluated, 28% did not demonstrate the need for management, 9% presented the need for adequate management and have a conflict with the urban space such as the raising of the sidewalk, conflict with the passage of pedestrians. 15% are large, 7% medium, and 11% are small trees. The origin of the planted species, 1% are exotic and 99% are native species. It is suggested to the public management of the city of Guarará, that together with the professionals trained for such work, prepare an urban afforestation plan for the municipality.

CULTURAL HERITAGE FROM THE CITY'S PERSPECTIVE

The changes related to the occupation of Brazilian territory that took place in the 70's and 80's brought great transformations and challenges to cities, a fact that triggered the need for organization and management of these territories. From the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1934, a movement emerged regarding the legal treatment of issues related to urbanism and its cultural heritage. The legal regulations’ evolution process that permeate the cities continued to walk with the Constitution of 1988 and the City Statute (2001), which in turn, guides Brazilian municipalities regarding their public administrations through the Municipal Master Plans. In this way, the study in question is justified based on the issues that permeate cities, with their complex and constantly changing systems. The present research is directed to emphasize theoretical approach studies on cultural heritage through the vision of the city. This work is based on bibliographic research, of a basic nature, as well as presents a qualitative approach to the data collected, and treated from the analytical-synthetic approach method, initially presents the information with a macro view, reducing the analysis to understanding micro of the study object.

National Civil Defense and Protection Policy and Municipal Master Plan: Collaboration for Natural Disaster Risk Management in Petrópolis, Brazil

National Civil Defense and Protection Policy and Municipal Master Plan: Collaboration for Natural Disaster Risk Management in Petrópolis, Brazil

Disaster vulnerability analysis of small towns in Brazil

Most of the global urban population lives in cities with less than one million people, whereas in Brazil, more than 45% of the population is estimated to live in cities with up to 100,000 people. As in both the global and Brazilian contexts, many of these people live in disaster-prone areas, there has been an increasing demand for research on small cities to subsidize actions contributing to disaster risk reduction. Thus, this study evaluates the vulnerability and capacities of small Brazilian municipalities to reduce risks, especially those related to landslides and floods. To this end, 234 municipalities located in the southern and southeast regions of the country were classified into two population classes, that is, cities from 20,000 to 50,000 people and those from 50,000 to 100,000 people. These municipalities are characterized by high levels of municipal human development and availability of municipal master plans. Statistical analysis of a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators revealed that the vulnerability of populations and municipal capacities is mainly related to the economic sectors, public policies, and city size. Municipal master plans and high levels of municipal human development guarantee neither better urban infrastructure nor specific risk management legislations. Although there are legal tools recommending disaster risk management policies, such tools are insufficient to reduce vulnerabilities and increase capacities in small Brazilian cities.

The (Un)governable City: Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1858-1911 by Raghav Kishore

Delhi has always been a crucible of political disquiet, and the seat of manifold state and aesthetic desires to order, control and design the city. Even at this moment, we find ourselves before a ubiquitous impulse to change the appearance of the city through the Central Vista Project which proposes to cater to needs of increase in government office space. There are layers to the city and obvious enough, it is not monolithic. The vestiges and architectural remnants of subsequent ages narrate the relentless saga of power, domination and settlement. A historical analysis of the spatial structures reflects the reasons behind its physical organization. To talk about colonial designs within this very broad spectrum is but, only a brief moment in a longue duree of human settlement in this region. Yet, it is necessary to understand the spatial synchrony, for much of it is what we have inherited today and this is what shapes our experiences of this city even at present. Raghav Kishore’s The (Un)governable City (2020), makes an intervention in this corpus of historical analysis with his impeccable research and endless forays into the archives. This is a welcome addition to studies in the field of urban development of Delhi, with Pilar Maria Guerrieri’s Maps of Delhi (2017) being one precursor, which painstakingly curates maps of Delhi from the precolonial times, to the modern municipal Master Plans to contemporary digital mappings. Kishore unearths curious details from local sources and twines those with debates among colonial policy makers and personnel to highlight issues of political ideology, statecraft and governmentality. This volume juxtaposes notions of policing, control and accessibility with debates and discussions on sanitation, traffic, communication, railways and the building of military cantonments, which are significant if we think of the British rule in India as a garrison state, heavily dependent on the easy mobility of its military forces. The success of the control was conditional on the ability to gather up huge military forces to curb parallel sporadic outbursts at their very onset. The broadening of roads, regulation of quarters and delimiting encroachments and concerns over connectivity, were carefully thought out strategisations towards the goal of containment and territorialisation.

Urban Planning and Residential Segregation in Brazil—The Failure of the “Special Zone of Social Interest” Instrument in Londrina City (PR)

The objective of this analysis is linked to the discussion of urban residential segregation marked by the Brazilian urban land structure and perpetuated by urban planning instruments at the municipal level. The spatial focus of the study is the municipality of Londrina (state of Paraná/Brazil). We aimed to analyze the relationship between urban zoning and the dynamics of residential segregation, unfolding two foci: verify to what extent the objectives presented in the municipal instrument translate the objectives of the instrument at the federal level (the City Statute–CE) and the national program “My Home, My Life” aimed to provide housing to socially vulnerable populations; the second focus, aims to assess how the planning instrument—the Special Zone of Social Interest (ZEIS), contemplated in the Land Use and Occupation Law and in the Municipal Master Plan of Londrina (PDPML, 2008)—materializes in practice the objectives of promoting equity in access to housing. The results show that although the objectives defined at the federal level are transposed to the municipal level, demonstrating a theoretical coherence between the instruments, there are flaws in their implementation. The case study results show that the urban zoning of Londrina has as a guideline a segregationist territorial ordering, leading to a residential segregation of the population with low purchasing power. On the other hand, the planning instrument that could change this reality is the ZEIS that, on the contrary, reinforced social housing in the periphery, conditioning the right to the city and perpetuating the social vulnerability of disadvantaged groups, in a process common to other Brazilian cities. Such constraints make relevant the establishment of land reserves for social housing based on clear roles of a social and functional mix, reinforced by the combat of vacant spaces and the definition of minimal housing and infrastructure densities to allow urban occupation.