Spatial Planning Law Research Articles

Implementation Of Local Regulation No. 11/2012 On Road And River Boundary Lines Regarding The Effectiveness Of Sanctions

This study examines the application of Regional Regulation No. 11/2012 on road and river boundary lines and evaluates the effectiveness of its sanctions in Cirebon Regency, Indonesia. The issue of illegal buildings violating road and river borders remains prevalent, mainly along Jalan Pilang. This research analyzes how effectively the regulation and its sanctions are implemented to curb these violations. The study employs an empirical juridical approach, using primary and secondary data from field research, document reviews, and interviews. The findings reveal that enforcing sanctions under Regional Regulation No. 11/2012 could be more effective, with numerous illegal structures still encroaching on regulated boundaries. Although supported by legal provisions, the local Government's enforcement efforts face challenges due to community non-compliance and insufficient enforcement mechanisms. The results highlight the need for more vigorous regulatory enforcement and public awareness to uphold spatial planning laws. This study contributes to understanding the complexities of spatial regulations and provides recommendations for enhancing legal compliance in local governance.

Changes in spatial planning law after the COVID-19 pandemic

This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ .

The Importance of Law Enforcement and Spatial Planning Regulations Regarding Flood Management

Spatial planning in Indonesia, both national and regional spatial planning, has become a crucial problem that has developed dynamically in recent years. The urgency of spatial management in human life encourages the existence of statutory regulations to address spatial planning. Spatial planning is an important component in determining the success of a region's development, especially in the context of sustainable development. Rapid regional growth, both in urban and rural areas, has had a positive economic impact, but has also given rise to environmental problems, manifested in increasingly critical environmental conditions and the increasing intensity of natural disasters, partly caused by spatial planning violations. One of the significant impacts of spatial planning violations is flooding in Indonesia, which is often caused by land misuse. Therefore, enforcement of spatial planning laws and regulations closely related to flood management is critical. This study uses a qualitative research approach focusing on literature analysis, government policies, and empirical data related to flood management in Indonesia. Empirical data was obtained through interviews with legal experts, spatial planning experts, and related stakeholders. Deductive methods are used in data analysis to identify patterns and relationships between law enforcement, spatial planning regulations, and flood management. The results of this study show that strict law enforcement, clear spatial regulations, and increasing institutional capacity are the keys to reducing flood risk. With synergy between law enforcement and capacity building, potential flood risks can be minimized while building better community involvement and awareness.

Enforcement of spatial planning laws in controlling spatial use permits in Yogyakarta

Space is an area that includes land space, sea space and air space, including space within the earth as a unified territory, where humans and other creatures live, carry out activities and maintain their survival. Increasing population growth has an impact on the economic development of the people of an autonomous region who will undoubtedly utilize space that is considered strategic to support their economic activities. The complexity of development growth in Indonesia requires priority development programs and plans in various aspects or fields, but this development must not conflict with the fifth principle of Pancasila, namely social justice for all Indonesian. There is no consistency in implementing regulations, especially in enforcing laws related to spatial planning, which results in inappropriate development growth which impacts the surrounding environment, and green open space becoming increasingly narrow.

Linking Renewable Energy Projects at Municipal Level with NECP Planning and Reporting

Regarding the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) according to EU Governance Regulation, there is a disconnect between the federal and municipal levels that hinders effective planning and reporting, especially in the area of renewable energy sources (RES) where availability depends on the regional spatial conditions. The project transFORMAT-LINK addresses this challenge based on case studies and stakeholder discussions. Main results are (1) the LINK-Guideline for municipal development concepts/plans to support RES project implementation and NECP planning and reporting; (2) the LINK-Software prototype for developing and monitoring municipal development concepts/plans according to LINK-Guideline. This contribution presents an overview of preliminary results, with a focus on minimum requirements for municipal development concepts/plans under the regional spatial planning laws and how they will facilitate the implementation of renewable energy projects.

Uncovering Spatial Planning Values through Law: Insights from Central East European Planning Systems

The spatial planning act should define the key values of a given planning system. However, legally defining these values does not guarantee their smooth or efficient implementation. Though, it should provide guidance in their subsequent interpretation. Spatial planning law defines values but does not guarantee their realisation. The articulation of values in spatial planning law must, as a rule, be more general, detailed by specific provisions and considered in judicial interpretation. The aim of this article is to extract and comparative analysis spatial planning values comprised within national legal acts of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. It then sets out to compare these values to the planning practices within these countries. Values stated in legislation at the national level are also applicable at lower planning levels, particularly at the local level. Their inclusion in acts is therefore very important from the perspective of planning practice. For the purposes of this article, values in spatial planning are those comprised within national laws on spatial planning matters. This refers to the values explicitly identified and included at the beginning of such laws. The way these values are framed and understood is explored in the article. The legal recognition of values in spatial planning can provide a basis for their wider implementation. However, there are several barriers against their successful implementation. Different jurisdictions engage with these values in distinct ways. The same applies to actual planning practice. Identifying and comparing the ways in which spatial planning values are framed in the laws of the surveyed countries made it possible to single out values that are repeated in all systems (e.g., sustainable development, environmental protection, protection of architectural properties and public interest) and values that are framed differently across Central East European planning systems.

Planning in Poland and Slovenia – Introduction to Comparative Analysis of Spatial Planning Systems at the Local Level

The paper aims to compare the existing spatial planning system in both countries, their spatial planning laws, documents and planning approaches. It focuses on the level of land use and urban planning instruments at the local level. It addresses the administrative and procedural characteristics of the two countries as well as experiences and examples of best practices that can be shared in the future. The results presented show that the countries are quite similar in terms of both the planning system and the typology of spatial planning acts. There are clearer differences in the planning approaches at the local level and in the current challenges regarding the stakeholders' participation in the planning processes.

Directions of change in the spatial policies of Polish border municipalities during the first year of war in Ukraine, 2022

Local-level spatial policies in Poland are determined by diverse social, economic, political and environmental factors. On the one hand, they result from the specific characteristics of individual areas. On the other, however, supra-local factors are found to be playing an increasingly important role. These can include trends related to the Europeanisation of spatial planning and the associated promoted institutional changes and changes in planning practices. However, from February 2022 onwards, certain European countries in particular have seen another important factor has come into play, i.e. the war in Ukraine. It thus seems legitimate to verify how the fundamental change in the geopolitical situation, i.e. the location in the immediate vicinity of a victim state (Ukraine), an aggressor state (Russia) and an aggressor-friendly state (Belarus), along with a number of related consequences (including a change in the nature of border capacity, a sense of insecurity, potential changes in investment policy, etc.) determine the directions local spatial policies have been taking. The main purpose of the article is to diagnose the current planning situation of units of local-government administration along Poland’s eastern border by reference to two groups of issues: (1) concerning the state of progress of planning work, as well as (2) the impact of the outbreak of war in Ukraine on changes in spatial policy (perforce ancillary, given the small number of responses received). The source of the data were annual surveys of the Ministry of Development and Technology and Statistics Poland regarding the advancement of planning work at the level of the Polish gmina, as well and a survey addressed to all 77 such units of local administration located by the border. Particular reference was made to the application of spatial-planning instruments at the local level (studies of spatial planning conditions and directions, local spatial development plans and decisions on development conditions – with the analyses concerning the period before the major July 2023 amendment of spatial planning law). Particular attention was paid to the frequency of enactment of individual acts, with this being related to both earlier periods and trends in Poland as a whole. The research finds that the relatively high level of activity shown by some of the surveyed gminas in amending/updating spatial planning studies and spatial / physical development plans may not be related to the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The Polish spatial-planning system in fact lacks instruments by which to react flexibly and ensure the integration of development policies (as is particularly necessary when a crisis erupts).

Land Consolidation Process Based On Environmental Conservation and Urban Spatial Law

This article explores the benefits and implications of implementing a land consolidation process centered around environmental conservation and urban spatial law. The research in this article will use normative legal research methods with an analytical and descriptive nature. This article concludes that the land consolidation process based on environmental conservation and urban spatial planning law offers a holistic approach to promoting sustainable development. By integrating conservation practices and adhering to urban spatial regulations, the process ensures the preservation of natural resources, controlled urban expansion, sustainable infrastructure development, efficient land utilization, and the conservation of cultural heritage. Collaborative efforts among government, communities, and the private sector are essential for successful implementation. Applying this approach contributes to the overall improvement and preservation of the environment, leading to a more sustainable future.

Law as a factor generating weakness in the spatial planning system

This paper deals with the issue of the impact of legislation on the spatial planning system of a country. The case of Poland was chosen as it provides very wide material in this respect (due to the numerous weaknesses of the Polish spatial planning law diagnosed in the literature). Three key regulations were identified in relation to three spatial planning instruments at the local level: studies of spatial development conditions and directions, local spatial plans, and decisions on building conditions. It was determined what the weaknesses of these provisions are, and what wider impact they have on the application of individual spatial planning instruments and consequently on the entire spatial planning system. The issue of externalities of spatial management was additionally analysed. The results provided a basis for extending a more universal scientific discussion on the possible, especially negative, impact of legislation on spatial planning systems.

Analysis and Prediction of Water Balance Using Dynamic Modelling to Solve Water Scarcity in Cimahi

Cimahi is one of the most populated, fast-growing cities in Indonesia. Consequently, various environmental problems appear, primarily related to the sustainability of water resources. Exploitation and pollution of water, especially groundwater, are not accompanied by a good water conservation system that ensures proper water infiltration into the soil, causing several locations in the city to experience water deficits. The city may suffer a severe water shortage if this problem is unsolved. This study aims to predict and analyze the need and availability of water in Cimahi in the next few years to determine the right solution to deal with this problem. Analysis and prediction of water availability/needs were carried out by building a dynamic model using STELLA software for simulating the conditions in the next ten years. The results of the model were combined with the applicable spatial policies to formulate possible solutions. Results showed that Cimahi will experience a water crisis starting from 2029 with a total water deficit of 8.22 million M³. The model also predicted South Cimahi District is the area with the worst conditions where the water crisis has occurred since 2022 and peaked in 2029 with water sufficiency of only 59.83%. Based on local spatial planning laws and policies, the city's government is advised to improve its catchment area to protect its water resources. The vegetation cover area surrounding the catchment area can be improved, and water absorption capacity can be increased through civil technical actions such as building absorption wells. The model results showed that a proper solution could be done by expanding 142.8 Ha of green/vegetation cover, building 1576 units of absorption wells, and increasing the PDAM supply by 100 l/second.

Buildable land overzoning. Have new planning regulations in Poland resolved the issue?

The scarcity of space as a resource and dynamic social changes call for rational management of the available land. However, many countries today struggle with inefficient space management. One of the relevant issues is the surplus of land zoned as buildable. The paper investigates whether one of such countries, Poland, has developed an effective tool to resolve the issue. The paper analyses literature, government reports and opinions, and discourses of spatial planners and identifies primary drivers of changes in buildable land zoning policies introduced to the Polish spatial planning law in 2015. It focuses on one factor particularly, the overestimation of the demand for buildable land. An analysis of masterplans drafted according to the new regulations revealed that the new policy that seemingly offered alternative and effective tools for controlling buildable land overzoning turned out to be ambiguous and ineffective. Consequently, the regulations failed to eliminate the abuses they were designed to control. The example of the Polish planning regulations shows that ambiguous laws fail to produce the expected results and need to be specified more precisely, particularly regarding nomenclature, even if the intention behind them is good.

Disaster Mitigation in Coastal Areas: Perspective of the Indonesian Spatial Planning Law

This article is a critical analysis on spatial planning with regard to disaster mitigation in coastal areas. The author explores the concepts and regulations of disaster mitigation and spatial planning in Indonesian coastal areas to identify how spatial planning works in terms of disaster mitigation in coastal areas and the roles of stakeholders in disaster mitigation in coastal areas in the context of the spatial planning law. This normative legal research was conducted by examining secondary data from relevant books, journals, and published documents. This study finds out that, first, according to the Spatial Planning Law, Management of Coastal Zone and Small Islands Law, Disaster Management Law, Job Creation Law, and their derivative regulations, there have been regulations mandating spatial planning as a non-structural mitigative measure with regard to disaster management in coastal areas. Second, in terms of spatial planning and disaster mitigation, the government is the dominant stakeholder, while the role of non-government stakeholders is not expressly provided for which may eventually result in "tokenism" participation in disaster mitigation in coastal areas.

Can the Job Creation Law Solve the Lack of Public Participation in Indonesia's Spatial Planning?

It has been long recognized that public participation plays a vital role in dealing with spatial planning laws. However, mechanisms for the inclusion of public participation have been criticized worldwide for lacking the hallmarks of actual participation, as this trend has also occurred in Indonesia. This paper aimed to analyze the significance of public participation in Indonesia's spatial planning and whether the current Job Creation Law can solve the lack of public participation. There are no legal consequences or sanctions if the government fails to conduct public participation, while the Job Creation Law is regarded to encourage public participation by enabling the public to be actively involved in every stage of spatial planning. By employing normative research, this paper shows that the Job Creation Law reiterates the same flaws by neglecting the importance of legal consequences for not conducting public participation. The implementing regulation rests uncertainty that can reduce and discourage public participation. As the Job Creation Law was highly expected to cope with the issue, it cannot involve the public properly in spatial planning.

Untangling the Gordian knot: estuary survival under sea-level rise and catchment pollution requires a new policy and governance approach

ABSTRACT Many estuaries are squeezed between sea-level rise, coastal hardening and adverse cumulative effects from unsustainable catchment activities. In Aotearoa New Zealand, there is little planning to provide future accommodation space for estuaries. A complex knot of policies and plans, and accompanying poor implementation also affect ecological sustainability. We examine these issues for Brooklands Lagoon/Te Riu o Te Aika Kawa, a tidal lagoon northeast of Christchurch/Ōtautahi. It is within the takiwā of Ngāi Tahu iwi and Ngāi Tūāhuriri hapū, and the jurisdictions of Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury. The estuary is influenced by three rivers, and surrounding land use is managed under three different statutory resource management plans, along with several non-regulatory strategies and organisational management plans. However, these plans are poorly integrated and estuarine ecological health is compromised. The incoming tide of resource management and local government reform will add complexity, but also an opportunity to accommodate and enhance the estuary as a blue carbon sink, and to restore cultural and ecological values. This requires specific recognition of estuaries in the proposed managed retreat and spatial planning laws, and within the replacement resource management statute. Legal recognition of Indigenous customary rights could also produce novel governance models to improve management.

The Transformation of Compact Rural Human Settlements in South Africa - The Case of Elim in Limpopo

Land-use change entails changes in existing land use usually guided by spatial planning laws and the pollical influence of the state. The paper examined the impact of spatial strategies, laws, and policies on land-use change in Elim. A qualitative case study method was used to achieve the study’s purpose. Historical review of laws and satellite images of Elim in 1964, 1985, 1993, 2002, 2014, and 2020 were used to identify the impact of the rules and the extent of the land-use changes from 1964 to 2020. The study revealed that apartheid laws for creating exclusive homelands and townships for blacks significantly impacted Elim’s spatial pattern. The statutes produced displaced urbanization in homelands represented by large townships, betterment policy modernized traditional villages into compact villages with modernist characteristics, and Integrated Development Planning managed to integrate urban and rural areas to transform Elim into a mixed-use neighborhood. The analysis demonstrated that integrated and spatial development plans could guide development without zoning in rural areas, particularly in communal areas, to promote integration and create mixed-use neighborhoods. Modernist planning adopted a top-down approach, while the integrated development strategy embraces a bottom-up approach. The study will assist planners and lawmakers improve the spatial planning process.

Unpacking the Ecuadorian Spatial Planning Law: Policy Mobilities in Latin America between Transnational Agency and Path-dependent Logics

ABSTRACT The paper engages with the policy mobilities debate by examining the 2016 Ecuadorian spatial planning law. It explores the existing tensions between the constitutional framework and the spatial planning tools outlined by the law which were the result of a process of adaptation of external planning models influenced by international organizations. It shows how the long-term consequences of property rights and a rural understanding of indigeneity shaped spatial planning tools, therefore suggesting the implication of path dependence in the outcome of policy mobilities. The contribution is based on participant observation, desk-research and semi-structured interviews.

Linking the National Energy and Climate Plan with Municipal Spatial Planning and Supporting Sustainable Investment in Renewable Energy Sources in Austria

The Austrian National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) refers to spatial planning as an important instrument to achieve 2030 targets because the technical potential of renewable energy sources (RES) are closely related to the types of land use. In Austria, land use is regulated by the spatial planning laws of the nine provinces, whereby the municipalities play an important role. It was the objective of the transFORMAT project to understand the scope for action of the municipalities with regard to promoting renewable energy use, and to understand the practical implications for renewable energy projects. To this end, the consolidated versions of spatial planning laws were analyzed and supported by a software tool (transFORMAT-Analyzer) that was developed to facilitate this process and the resulting follow-up activities. Responsible administrative departments were approached for supplementary information when deemed necessary. As a conclusion, the legal instrument (municipal ordinance), called a municipal development plan or concept, represents a long-term plan for the development of the municipality with the obligation or the option for revision under specific conditions. In theory, these revision intervals could be used to better align municipal plans with the NECP. In practice, however, significant barriers exist and opportunities for improvement have been identified, leading to recommendations on how investments in renewable energy systems can be planned more realistically and, thus, more sustainably.

Construction Activity as an Element of Suburban Zone Development

The dynamic process of suburbanisation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, causes changes in the scale of the construction activity, mainly in the communes surrounding large cities. Although, in Poland, suburbanisation processes were initiated with the system transformation, and the first spatial planning law was adopted only in 1994. In addition, building permits were issued in an unplanned manner, regardless of future consequences. As a result, housing development, despite its high intensity in suburban zones, is dispersed and chaotic. The aim of this study is to juxtapose the construction activity with the guidelines governing this sphere contained in strategic and planning documents, with the example of the suburbs of Toruń. On the basis of the statistical data, and the planning and strategic documents at different levels, it is shown that construction activity, because of its interference in space, is indeed an important element shaping suburban zone development; there is a burning need for the appropriate, i.e., sustainable and long-term, planning of this process. This planning may be boosted by considering the potential development scenarios for the analysed communes belonging to the Toruń suburban area set out in this study.

Fostering Spatial Efficiency in the Marine Space, in a Socially Sustainable Way: Lessons Learnt From a Soft Multi-Use Assessment in the Mediterranean

In a context of growing claim for marine space and in the pursuit of maritime “spatial efficiency,” Multi-use (MU) becomes necessary to assemble more or less compatible sea uses. In this paper, the potential of the soft MU involving small-scale fisheries (SSF), tourism, and nature conservation related to marine protected areas (MPAs), widely encountered in the Mediterranean Sea basin, is being assessed in Greece. Despite the fact that the MU concept is not yet included neither in maritime spatial planning (MSP) laws nor in strategic policy documents due mainly to the dominance of terrestrial spatial plans that favor exclusive rights of highly competitive and expansive maritime activities (e.g., aquaculture), the above MU is increasingly being practiced by local communities as a socio-economic instrument (fishing tourism), able to be also occasionally oriented to nature conservation. Following the Drivers, Added Values, Barriers and Negative Impacts (DABI) analysis, a spectrum of challenges/constraints and opportunities for the application of the MU under study was revealed, grouped in socio-economic, environmental, political–regulatory, and technological factors that can enable or undermine this MU in the Greek seas. The paper concludes that there is a huge potential for the said MU development in areas dependent on fisheries, consistently to the longstanding SSF tradition that despite its decline, continues to be one of the most important among those practiced in the coastal zone and in remote and insular communities, essentially defining their particular social and cultural identity. Besides, SSF have low environmental impact, and also tourists and the local communities are gradually becoming more conservation-oriented. Hence, the MU is highlighted as a tool for sustainable use of marine space supporting the Blue Growth Agenda and reconnecting natural and cultural capital at sea, thus redefining also the role of fishers that under equitable conditions may become defenders of marine biodiversity and key actors for the sustainable management of fish stocks and ecosystems in the protected areas.