Municipal Master Plan Research Articles

SEA effectiveness for landscape and master planning: An investigation in Sardinia

The Italian administrative bodies and planning agencies have embraced with mixed feedbacks the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) through the European Directive 2001/42/EC. Concurrently, regional and local spatial planning practice have been characterized by a new approach inspired by landscape planning. The Italian region of Sardinia has been one of the pioneering administrative bodies in the Italian and European arena that has adopted landscape principles for the construction of its regional master plan (PPR, Piano Paesaggistico Regionale). Municipalities are now carrying out the review of their master plans to the PPR's prescriptions and indications. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to assess the level of SEA implementation in the municipal master plans of Sardinia, six years after the approval of the PPR. Rooted in the SEA international literature we construct a modular and adaptable on-line survey for officers involved in the review of municipal master plans. The results show that many Sardinian municipalities have not reviewed their master plans to the PPR's regulations yet and only a few municipalities have started this review process according to the SEA procedure.

The influence of transport infrastructures on land-use conversion decisions within municipal plans

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is one of the most popular means of public intervention in the field of spatial planning, which aims at reducing land consumption caused by urban sprawl. In this paper, a logit model is computed to assess whether the Municipal Master Plans approved during the 1990s in the Lisbon region (Portugal), currently in force, contemplated public transit stations as a relevant requirement for the location of the planned urban expansion areas and, more specifically, for the conversion of non-urban areas to artificialized areas. It is shown that TOD was not taken as a preferential approach, suggesting that there may be at the outset an inherent resistance to public injunctions on limiting land-use conversion, regardless of other obstacles frequently mentioned.

Environmental Analysis of Master Plans in Social Interest Housing Developments in the City of Presidente Prudente – State of São Paulo – Brazil

Environmental Analysis of Master Plans in Social Interest Housing Developments in the City of Presidente Prudente – State of São Paulo – Brazil Sibila CAL Honda, Marcela C Vieira, Mayara P Albano, Yeda R Maria Abstract This article is the result of research on urban housing and environmental policies in a Brazilian city. The study was based on the city of Presidente Prudente, a municipality located in the West region of the State of São Paulo in Brazil, and analyzes four social interest housing developments implemented between 1997 and 1999. The Constitution of Brazil was sanctioned in 1988, strengthening the municipality before the other federal entities and attributing to it the duty of planning urban development through municipal master plans fairly and environmentally feasible. Thus, sustainable development would be part of the decision-making process for urban planning and management aimed at ensuring better quality of life. However, the municipality analyzed presents a different reality, once social housing projects are inserted into the urban grid disregarding standards, laws and guidelines, and urban policy processes occur non-coherently with the quality of life and environmental issues. The methodology used was based on qualitative research, including field surveys in the selected housing developments, according to architectural, urban and environmental aspects. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jea.v2n2a3

Adaptation to sea level rise in spatial planning – Experiences from coastal towns in Norway

Rising sea level has become a spatial planning challenge in Norway, as in many other coastal countries. This article focuses on how some selected Norwegian coastal towns adapt to this challenge in their spatial planning, and identifies potential barriers and opportunities for adaptation. Hammerfest in northern Norway is of particular interest since it is one of the few municipalities in Norway that addresses the future rise in sea level in its current municipal master plan. The main conclusion is that although sea level rise has scarcely been acknowledged as a challenge to spatial planning, there is increasing awareness and knowledge of the issues and impacts it presents. An important barrier to adaptation is the lack of authoritative signals from the national government. In Hammerfest there are enthusiasts in the municipal administration, and their ability to build networks with other relevant parties – including both the Planning Section in the municipality and other actors outside the municipality – which is a major reason for the consideration of sea level rise being integrated into the master plan.

Innovation in Environmental Governance in the City of São Paulo: Implementation of Linear Parks

As part of the directives featured in its 2002 municipal master plan, the Brazilian city of São Paulo has drafted an innovative policy for recovering its urban rivers and streams. This policy represents a new paradigm for the city in terms of its relationship to the many rivers and streams that have been buried under roads and expressways. This article shows that the creation of riverside parks, an important element of the plan, have been recognized by São Paulo's citizens as a genuine contribution to improving the quality of urban life.

Lezíria do Tejo: Agriculture and urban sprawl on the Lisbon metropolitan fringes

L’article analyse les dynamiques urbaines et agricoles dans la region de la Leziria do Tejo, situee en troisieme couronne metropolitaine de Lisbonne. Cette region est actuellement confrontee au declin de l’agriculture et a un etalement urbain qui s’effectue principalement par la conversion des sols agricoles. L’une des solutions envisagees par le Plan regional d’amenagement du territoire (PROT-OVT) pour lutter contre ces phenomenes, reside dans la multifonctionnalite de l’agriculture. Nous nous sommes attaches a comprendre la maniere dont l’urbanisation a evolue vis-a-vis des espaces agricoles, par l’analyse des donnees d’occupation des sols dans les zonages des Plans directeurs municipaux (PDM) et ceux de la Reserve agricole nationale (RAN), et par l’analyse des regards des acteurs territoriaux sur l’evolution en cours. Les resultats rendent compte de la facon dont les instruments d’amenagement local et les acteurs repondent a l’etalement urbain et a la deprise agricole, et mettent en perspective le role que la multifonctionnalite peut jouer dans ces reponses. Ils laissent pressentir la necessite d’une demarche integrant a la fois le zonage fonctionnel et les projets des acteurs.

Potencialidade do planejamento participativo no Brasil

O objetivo central deste trabalho é realizar uma reflexão das potencialidades apresentadas pelos atuais planos diretores municipais no Brasil em contraposição aos planos tradicionais, pois o Estatuto da Cidade (2001) trouxe uma ressignificação a esses planos ao designá-los de "planos diretores participativos", na orientação de formulação de planos com a perspectiva de uma efetiva participação popular. Para atingir este objetivo será trabalhada a experiência concreta de dois objetos de estudo: o Plano Diretor Participativo e o Orçamento Participativo e tomar-se-á o município de Londrina/ Paraná, para verificar a aplicação dos pressupostos da participação popular na produção do plano diretor municipal e como exemplo da aplicação do orçamento participativo o município de Porto Alegre / Rio Grande do Sul.

Planos diretores municipais e o zoneamento urbano: uma análise da (des)articulação entre os instrumentos de planejamento territorial no entorno do reservatório de Salto Grande (SP)

A demanda por instrumentos que auxiliem no trato das tensões sociais no espaço urbano se torna cada vez mais latente ao passo em que as cidades se configuram em palco de embates entre os diversos agentes sociais, o que origina, muitas vezes,marcantes desigualdades socioespaciais.No intuito de compreender esta relação no entorno do reservatório de Salto Grande (SP), em área localizada nos municípios de Americana, Nova Odessa e Paulínia, Estado de São Paulo, faz-se neste trabalho uma análise dos Planos Diretores Municipais vigentes dessas cidades, através de seus aspectos institucionais e da política de zoneamento urbano pré-definida para cada município, avaliando a sua condição de articulação e integração, enquanto hipótese de constituição de um instrumento norteador do planejamento de uma área comum. Para o desenvolvimento de tal proposta e,como suporte analítico, foram utilizadas técnicas de geoprocessamento para omanuseio de uma base de dados geográficos egeração de mapas temáticos.Os resultados apontam para a existência de uma desarticulaçãonas diretrizes do zoneamento urbano, particularmente quando avaliadosno âmbito regional do planejamento da área, o que poderá ocasionar, em um curto espaço de tempo, relevantes conflitos de uso e ocupação da terra no entorno do reservatório.

Interfaces da gestão ambiental urbana e gestão regional: análise da relação entre Planos Diretores Municipais e Planos de Bacia Hidrográfica

Este artigo relata uma pesquisa que discute como a questao ambiental vem sendo tratada nos instrumentos e praticas de gestao localizadas em dois recortes territoriais: municipios e bacias hidrograficas. Foi analisada a relacao da dimensao ambiental com a gestao regional e municipal, por meio dos instrumentos Planos de Bacia Hidrografica e Planos Diretores Municipais, tendo como locus a Unidade de Gerenciamento de Recursos Hidricos Tiete-Jacare do Estado de Sao Paulo. Os objetos de pesquisa selecionados foram o Plano de Bacia Hidrografica Tiete-Jacare e os Planos Diretores de Araraquara e Sao Carlos. A pesquisa abordou as seguintes categorias de analise: unidades de planejamento, instrumentos ambientais contidos no Plano de Bacia e nos Planos Diretores, instâncias de gestao e grau de influencia entre os planos analisados. O metodo se pautou em levantamentos, analises bibliograficas e documentais, entrevistas semiestruturadas e questionarios. Os resultados obtidos apontaram que o Plano de Bacia Hidrografica ainda apresenta lacunas e dificuldades para uma atuacao mais ampliada. Nao reconhece os conflitos de uso da terra e de organizacao territorial como uma vulnerabilidade que precisa ser enfrentada. Mostraram, ainda, que os Planos Diretores Municipais concentram-se na aplicacao dos instrumentos voltados ao parcelamento e ao zoneamento urbano. Nesses planos, as condicoes e os aspectos ambientais e regionais se apresentam como uma tematica periferica e pouco articulada com as demais politicas. As analises procuraram demonstrar a complexa relacao entre politicas, instrumentos e instâncias de planejamento e gestao, explicitando os obstaculos que dificultam a aplicacao do conceito de gestao territorial integrada.

Detecção Remota e Sistemas de Informação Geográfica para produção de cartografia de uso e ocupação do solo

The main purpose of this research is to develop and validate an efficient form of satellite image classification that integrates ancillary information (Census data; the Municipal Master Plan; the Road Network) and remote sensing data in a Geographic Information System. The developed procedure follows a layered classification approach, comprising three main stages: Pre-classification stratification; Application of Bayesian and Maximum-likelihood classifiers; Post-classification sorting. Common approaches incorporate the ancillary data before, during or after classification. In the proposed method, all the steps take the ancillary information into account. The proposed method achieves, much better classification results than the classical, one layer, Minimum Distance and Maximum-likelihood (ML) classifiers. Also, it greatly improves the accuracy of those classes where the classification process uses the ancillary data.

A Reserva Ecológica Nacional (REN): sua importância para o ambiente e ordenamento do território

THE NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL RESERVE (REN): ENVIRONMENT AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS. The National Ecological Reserve (REN) defined in Decree-Law 93/90 of March 5th is the «basic and diversified biophysical structure that guarantees environmental protection, through the creation of restricted areas» at rish through erosion (littoral or slope), flooding and aquifer recharge. The REN valuation, whose main aspects are referred to here, was carried out by means of an analysis of Municipal Master Plans (PDM) and a survey sent to all local authorities. As it was impossible to analyse the PDM of every district, a dis- trict differentiation was completed based on the biophysical index (Fig. 1 and 2), subsequently crossed by the district human pressure to obtain the district spatial differentiation of the environmental strain (Fig. 3). This allowed a standard district to be selected where the REN was analysed in full detail (Fig. 4 to 9). The survey allowed for the evaluation of the main conflicts in other districts between the REN and the goals of the PDM to be assessed, including the issues concerning the delimitation and the way the REN is seen by the councils and the citizens. The REN includes physical and biophysical systems (slope, fluvial, aquifer and littoral) that tend never to coincide with the administrative divisions. It is urgent that a national network be created of REN areas, planned and managed through more integrated means and an inter-municipal collaboration that can only be effective if environmental education is promoted, on both formal and informal terms.

Urban modelling for seismic prone areas: the case study of Vila Franca do Campo (Azores Archipelago, Portugal)

Abstract. Seismic risk mitigation comprises of land-use planning policies that enable risk reduction in areas exposed to earthquakes. Thus, the assessment of land-use plans regarding urban growth in seismic prone areas is very important. This article analyses the urban expansion of Vila Franca do Campo (island of S. Miguel, Azores, Portugal) from 1994 to 2005 based on ortophotomaps interpretations and simulates a scenario of urban growth for the year 2016 with a Land-use and Cover-Change (LUCC) model (Geomod). The goal is to evaluate the potential impact of land-use plans in managing urban growth and promoting seismic risk mitigation. Results indicate that the urban expansion, between 1994 and 2005, was done according to the Municipal Master Plan (MMP) restrictions. The scenario modelled for the year 2016 is potentially stricter for urban growth because it adds to the previous plan the constraints defined by the South Coast Management Plan (SCMP) that entered into force in 2007. In both time periods, a continuing urban growth towards seismic areas was identified. The absence of seismic risk mitigation policies and measures on both plans may contribute to increase the seismic hazard exposure and vulnerability. The results of this study strongly suggest the reformulation of future land-use plans to include seismic risk mitigation goals and policies.

Defining expansion areas in small urban settlements – An application to the municipality of Tomar (Portugal)

Tomar is a city that is located in central Portugal with a population of about 20000. This city, known as the “City of the Templars”, is located in a municipality of the same name, with a population of approximately 40000, which is made up of sixteen “freguesias” or parishes. Two of these parishes correspond roughly to the area of the city of Tomar itself. The largest of the urban centres in other parishes has a population of just over 1000 inhabitants, which shows that there is a proliferation of small urban settlements and very disperse human occupation.One of the objectives of the Municipal Master Plans in Portugal is to define the expansion areas of settlements. To this end we started by defining a methodology that allowed us to identify the urban consolidated areas. The present work defines a methodology to quantify the expansion area to be allocated to each urban centre in accordance with a set of parameters that includes, amongst other criteria, their size and hierarchical position. For the concrete definition of the expansion area a participatory approach was used that included all presidents of the parish councils.The final delimitation of the urban settlements leads to the conclusion that the methodology described in this paper reflects the concerns with containing disperse construction and consolidating the urban system, in order to promote a rational land-use and a safeguard of sensitive areas.

A inserção da atividade minerária em plano diretor municipal: uma discussão sobre o caso da indústria de extração de rochas ornamentais no noroeste do Estado do Espírito Santo

Este artigo trata da inserção da atividade minerária em Planos Diretores Municipais (PDMs), trazendo um estudo de caso acerca da atividade de extração de rochas ornamentais na região noroeste do estado do Espírito Santo. Neste estudo é abordada a importância do ordenamento territorial para melhor execução dessa atividade, à luz de sua expressão econômica no PIB estadual, dos principais diplomas legislativos regulamentadores da matéria, bem como o papel dos órgãos administrativos responsáveis pela sustentabilidade desse setor da economia local. Levanta-se uma discussão a partir de informações obtidas pela ação conjunta entre os governos federal e municipal e do Consórcio dos Municípios Mineradores do Noroeste do Espírito Santo (COMMINES), na realização da “Oficina de capacitação para implementação de Plano Diretor em Municípios com Atividades Minerárias na região Noroeste do Espírito Santo”, ocasião em que, paralelamente, os agentes municipais participantes desta Oficina, foram consultados acerca da atividade mineral em seus municípios, pela aplicação de um questionário. Por meio dessa discussão pôde-se enfatizar que o planejamento da atividade minerária e sua inserção nos Planos Diretores em municípios de pequeno porte demográfico, onde a mineração é fator importante de geração de emprego e renda, é uma ferramenta fundamental para o ordenamento territorial e o desenvolvimento local sustentável. Dessa forma, destaca-se a importância da inserção da atividade de extração de rochas ornamentais nos PDM dos municípios integrantes do consórcio da região noroeste do estado do Espírito Santo, possibilitando uma atuação pró-ativa dos atores envolvidos, processos produtivos ambientalmente corretos e a regularização da atividade. A análise das respostas ao questionário e os resultados da Oficina mostram a possibilidade de se traçar caminhos para a melhoria da realidade, transformando-a em um processo de construção de um modelo de desenvolvimento efetivamente sustentável com base no planejamento da atividade minerária nos PDMs.

Spatial and temporal land use change and occupation over the last half century in a peri-urban area

Understanding the reorganisation of land in order to adapt its use and spatial structure to social demands has become crucial to management and represents a major challenge to land use planning and public policies. This study explores the temporal and spatial land use change transitions in a peri-urban area of a medium-sized city located in the central Portugal and characterised by profound changes in the last half century. The study is supported by a collection of seven years/moments of image analysis (the 1958, 1973, 1979, 1995, 2002 and 2007 maps). Cross-referencing the successive sets of images defines the percentage of land transition and provides the stability grade (SG), which expresses the total proportion of the landscape that has not experienced any transition to a different category of land use. In order to evaluate the intensity of urban expansion, an annual rate of artificialisation of surfaces (AS) indicator was used. The seven cartographic outputs highlight a decrease in the area occupied by permanent crops, an increase in urban areas, especially the continuous urban fabric, a large forest occupation involving different typologies and paths, and an increase in base soil areas. The data also shows a general increase in the number of patches recognised and in pattern complexity. The results show that land use changes are created by systematic transitions, with or without gross variations, and also by casuistic processes associated with an increase in artificialised areas and the growth of the continuous urban fabric. Land use transition reflects the internal and external inputs associated with the approval of Municipal Master Plans and the land regulatory regime, and also the consolidation of the road infrastructure network. The analysis indicates that the transfer takes place in a set of small sequential steps marking the evolution from rural characteristics to a process of peri-urbanisation, ending in urban consolidation.

Pedestrian Planning in City Centers: a Study of Guimarães and Braga

People are walking in cities for different reasons. Some walkers walk for going to work, some are walking for shopping and some are for leisure during day and night hours. Medium sized cities like Braga and Guimaraes in Portugal are depending on car for even shorter trips up to 2 kilometers. However, the walkways are allowing people to walk in convenient and safe way including late night environment. The pedestrians feel troublesome to walk on the footpaths because of illegal parking and discontinuation of walkways. Municipality transport plans and master plans do not incorporate pedestrians as a major component. But this egress mode of transportation is very important in medium sized city centers like Guimaraes and Braga for the people to enjoy city centers’ activities. This paper focuses on the types of walkers who use the walkways on a regular basis. Usually, people are feeling comfortable to walk when they go to clubs and bars in a group in these small cities especially after work. This paper again tries to focus the varieties of problems on walkways and to present policies that can improve the situation. Municipal master plan and transportation plan have been studied carefully to see the provisions of pedestrian planning options. Field surveys have been conducted both in form of questionnaire and observation during the end of 2009 and results show different patterns of pedestrian behavior as well as evidence that people get different experiences with problems while walking on the walkways in both surveyed towns. Considering the issues of sustainable mobility, this paper also tries to suggest policies to motivate more people to walk especially in the medium-sized cities of Portugal.

Análise da implantação da gestão descentralizada em saúde: estudo comparado de cinco casos na Bahia, Brasil

Understanding the effects of health decentralization policies in Brazil requires different methodological approaches to capture the issue's complexity from distinct angles. Five case studies were thus performed to evaluate the degree of implementation of components related to decentralization of the health system management in selected municipalities (counties) in Bahia State, Brazil. A logical model was elaborated with definitions related to policy goals. A comparative study of the five municipalities, considered "exemplary cases", showed that decentralization alone does not explain the organizational changes in the municipal health systems. Local government characteristics such as the municipal master plan, governing capacity, and governance proved important for heath care changes. The main problems and insufficiencies were found in the system's management and quality of healthcare delivered to the population. The authors discuss their findings and identify critical areas for future interventions with special emphasis on the institutionalization of planning and evaluation and the development of inter-sector projects.

Irracionalidades urbanas e requalificação de áreas centrais

This article presents a scenario of contemporary urban irrationalities through the discussion of two different phenomena: (1) the low applicability of legislations concerning the social interest of urban land, such as the Statute of the City, and, (2) the degradation and under use of central areas in countries like Brazil. Both irrationalities are recurrently criticised in the scientific literature; they remain present in the national urban scene and with an increasing participation in the entire city. Although considering the two phenomena in a single context of urban irrationalities, this article prioritises the debate on the second one, more specifically the implementation of requalification projects in central areas. Future researches may deepen the discussion on the second phenomenon, once Municipal Master Plans, as proposed by the Brazilian Cities Ministry, are approved with the idea to respect social interests. Present article brings to discussion basic aspects usually adopted to justify interventions in central areas (Large Scale Projects), its risks and its potentials. Source of information is secondary and primary. Most of the time authors make use the cities of Curitiba and Sao Paulo, in Brazil, as reference.

A Study on Plan-Management for Municipal Master Plan

A Study on Plan-Management for Municipal Master Plan

The Binding Force of the Basic Plans in the Process of Incorporating Citizen's Proposals into the Municipal Master Plan

The Binding Force of the Basic Plans in the Process of Incorporating Citizen's Proposals into the Municipal Master Plan