Territorial Planning Instruments Research Articles

Analysis Of Urban Planning Instruments in Comala, Colima, Mexico (1997–2009) from a Gender Perspective — A Secondary Publication

This work is carried out based on the analysis of urban planning instruments, taking the gender perspective as a foundation. It arises from the inclusion of women in the participation of urban development, through an analysis of the gender gaps that have marked the history of women, the inequalities serve as a basis for carrying out this study. It highlights the challenges we face today as a society in the process of building citizen participation, where we must all be recognized and have equal opportunities within the territory in which we live. This article analyzes the extent to which the Municipal Urban Development Programs of the Mexican municipality of Comala, Colima, Mexico, consider the recommendations on gender and urbanism, established since the 1990s by international entities and applied transversally to urban planning policies. Considerable differences are found between women and men in terms of empowerment and participation in urban territorial planning instruments, mainly in the oldest instrument (1997). Significant progress is observed in the most recent document and is currently in force in the municipality of Comala (2009).

Identificación del riesgo en la Quebrada Jaime, Valparaíso, Chile

The commune of Valparaíso, located on the central coast of Chile, represents a territory of interest for the study of the impacts derived from socio-natural risks and the discussion about its due inclusion in the current territorial planning instruments. Particularly, the Jaime ravine (quebrada Jaime), located in the foothills of the coastal mountain range, represents an interesting study site due to its physical configuration and the level of anthropic intervention that occurs. In this sector, part of the community's low-income population has been forced to migrate, due to the scarcity of urban land in safe areas, facing a series of risks that jeopardize their quality of life. This research uses multicriteria analysis based on physical and social variables to identify and territorially express the risk scenarios for the population of this stream. Forest fires and mass removal processes are presented as the most complex events with the greatest impact and that until now have not been properly integrated into the Valparaíso Metropolitan Regulatory Plan (PREMVAL), thus allowing the intensive use of the territory in risk areas, a situation that must be reanalyzed based on the natural dynamics of the ravine and the progressive occupation of the land, to avoid future impacts on the population

Mining, development and unequal regionalization in subnational Latin American contexts

Territorial planning based on the use of nature is a problem that needs to be addressed in Latin America since it reaffirms the extraction and export of minerals as a development strategy and exacerbates economic dependence on natural resources. The objective of this research is to study mining on an intranational and interregional scale from a territorial and environmental approach to evaluate the relevance of functional regionalization plans that seek to reduce inequality and protect the environment. The mining sector's productive indicators and other social, demographic and environmental indicators were analyzed using official data for the period 2010–2020. The application of territorial planning instruments - such as functional regionalization - promotes the creation of corporate territories that benefit mining companies to the detriment of the population and the territories they inhabit. Uneven development prevails on an inter-regional scale, leaving some regions excluded, impoverished and environmentally depredated. More comprehensive policies are needed to face the processes of territorial inequality and the subsequent reconfiguration of power, so the inhabitants of the territories can make effective decisions on how to lead a dignified life while prioritizing the productive activities that contribute to this objective.

Evolving local agrifood initiatives within a territorial agrifood system: the case of Prato Province, Italy

ABSTRACT Complexities and case-specific nature of territorial agrifood systems require urgent attention of researchers. The objective of this study is to provide advanced understanding and analysis of the perspective of urban and peri-urban farming through the lens of embeddedness in the life of the urban community. The study adopted Prato Province (Tuscany Region, Italy) as a case study area. Spatial analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders (N = 9), field observations and discussions with local farmers (N = 17) were deployed in the research. Drawing upon our research, we identified a wide diversity of unique, locally focused and rooted agrifood initiatives and innovative food networks connecting individual (or groups of) farmers with local people. Our findings suggest that observed farms tend to be highly differentially re-embedded to the urban space of Prato Province and its inhabitants. Mutual interconnectedness through jointly cooperating local agrifood initiatives truly contributes to a more sustainable shape of territorial agrifood system. Furthermore, our observations showed a clear tendency toward more sustainable land management in the region. We claim that well thought out and smart local food governance and systemic involvement of innovative territorial planning instruments, have potential to beneficially contribute to the formation of inspirational and transferrable sustainable agrifood systems.

A Conceptual Model for Planning and Management of Areas of Public Space and Meeting in Colombia

A refined investigation of new trends in urban analysis assuming a sustainable design of Areas of Public Space and Meeting (APSM) is a fundamental response to the challenges of inclusive and efficient cities. Even though the APSM are districts regarded as urban structuring systems, there is a lack of territorial planning instruments and conceptual models aimed at explaining their long-term dynamics. Based on these premises, we developed a conceptual model that articulates relevant variables of interest for the planning and management of APSM. The construction of the model includes the review and analysis of the literature and the validation process based on a consultation with a panel of experts on the subject. Our findings demonstrate that the existing research does not address the APSM issue adequately, and the methodologies proposed so far do not lead to accurate and comprehensive analyses of urban complexity in light of sustainability targets. There are only isolated, disjointed, and partial approaches to variables of interest, making it difficult to carry out holistic studies. Our technical and scientific proposal offers a framework for an exhaustive evaluation of these areas. The model has been structured according to the assumptions of urban sustainability and can be applied to diverse urban environments in South America.

Criteria for Selecting Areas to Identify Ecosystem Services Provided by Geodiversity: A Study on the Coast of São Paulo, Brazil

Ecosystem services are essential for life. Despite traditionally focusing on biodiversity, several studies have presented the ecosystem services provided by geodiversity. However, the choice of the study area is still a step that raises doubts for the researcher. Several elements of geodiversity must occur in the area so that different ecosystem services can be identified. Thus, the selection of the study area is a crucial step of the research. This work aims to determine the criteria for the selection of potential areas for the identification of ecosystem services by geodiversity in Baixada Santista, central coast of São Paulo, Brazil. The criteria established were (i) characterization of the physical environment based on the geodiversity index map and the watershed map and (ii) description of land use based on the characterization of land use and analysis of territorial planning instruments. As a result, the watershed with high levels of geodiversity and diversity of land uses was selected. The criterion was important, as it is an area already used in soil management and different land uses can provide a variety of ecosystem services. Thus, these criteria proved to be effective in the selection of areas for the evaluation of ecosystem services by geodiversity.

Future urban growth scenarios and ecosystem services valuation in the Tepic-Xalisco Metropolitan area, Mexico

Currently, there is a need to establish new territorial planning instruments focused on sustainable development. The simulation of spatial scenarios is an essential tool to evaluate different alternatives for urban planning. The objective of this work was to explore future urban growth through the analysis of landscape patterns and the economic quantification of ecosystem services of three prospective scenarios, simulated towards the horizon year 2045. Each scenario was formulated, based on the application of different socioeconomic, political and environmental development strategies whose actions have a direct impact on land-use changes. The starting point was an urban growth simulation model, based on Cellular Automata with Markov Chains (CA-Markov), developed from previous work for the study area. Three scenarios were constructed with the intention of showing the spatial characteristics of three different alternatives of the evolution of future urban growth and through them, quantify the economic value and the consequences that would occur in the territory due to the effect of the different decisions taken. Landscape metrics were applied to detect the spatial processes and patterns of urban growth for each of the simulated scenarios and, finally, the costs of ecosystem services associated with the loss or gain of territory (that each of the different land covers and land uses would contribute) were quantified. The three simulated scenarios revealed that the Tepic-Xalisco Metropolitan Zone (MZ) will be in a process of urban coalescence in the next 30 years; and that the path designed to move towards an Industrialisation Scenario (ES2-IN) estimates economic losses of more than $31 million dollars per year for the ecosystem services associated particularly with the reduction of forest cover.

The end of indigenous territory? Projected counterurbanization in rural Protected Indigenous Areas in Temuco, Chile

Indigenous land is permeable to uses and practices that differ greatly from what current regulations establish. At the international level it is possible to see how real estate, agribusiness and forestry projects are diminishing these communities' capacity to control and manage their territories. A similar situation can be seen in Chile, where Mapuche communities have experienced a loss of territory to these external productive agents. However, a new actor has appeared on the horizon of permeability of indigenous territory: the amenity migrant. In this sense, and less evidently in the international literature, the counterurbanization process based on amenity uses in legally protected indigenous lands opens up a new front in the conflicts over peri-urban lands. The objective of this paper is to explore and discover the future impacts that the processes of suburbanization through counterurbanization will have indigenous lands in the vicinity of the city of Temuco, regional capital of La Araucanía (Chile), which are already visible. Considering a series of variables theoretically related to the projection of natural amenity on rural land and applying a logistic regression model, the results indicate that the future of the Títulos de Merced, the main mechanism recognizing property over indigenous lands, will be affected by the expansion of leisure plots, the modality through which amenity practices in Chile are disseminated. With this evidence, the implications that this situation has for Territorial Planning Instruments are discussed.

Decentralization of Government Functions, a European Principle of the Albanian Modernization Process: A libertarian approach to territorial issues

Abstract Albania, for 30 years, has entered the phase of transition from a society organized into a one-party central governing regime to a democratic society of a free market economy. But the pace of moving in this direction and modernizing the country is not the expected one, because the centralized proclamations of the political elite and expertise have not allowed liberal approaches to enter Albanian legislation and governing practices. This has been the case in particular in the sector of territorial planning, where central governments have aimed and managed to not allow the actual decentralization of the governing function of drafting and adopting local territorial planning instruments. This has resulted in a shortage of local instruments, in general, but even when managed to ensure they are presented far beyond the needs, problems and objective local imbalances. This is because their distance mapping from the actual municipality for which they were designed failed to recognize the specifics and characteristics of each of them. The result has been evident; in both cases, planning has been inexistent to drive sustainable, smart and inclusive urban development processes. In this paper we aim to build another approach for future development in Albania, a country which aims at integration into the European Union. This path should be development based on previously adopted territorial planning instruments, drawn up in democratic and parliamentary processes as a local political activity. Central government must understand and accept the new and different role than the one it played 30 years ago in territorial development issues, and that the process of drafting and adopting local territorial planning instruments should be a function of local government itself.

Impact of Population Growth in the Central Coastal Zone of Chile: Factors for Estimating Tourism Carrying Capacity Based on the Case Study of One Latin American Seaside Resort

El Quisco is a district and popular seaside resort on the coast of Chile that has suffered the effects of the growing demand for second homes and tourism activities. The district has the fourth highest influx of a floating population in the region, which has had numerous impacts on the district at several levels. The objective of this article is to examine the issue of carrying capacity in Chile and its public management at the local level. To this end, this research developed an exploratory and instrumental case study. Carrying capacity problems were first identified in the existing literature. This information was subsequently complemented with more local information by means of: analysis of territorial planning instruments (TPIs) relating to the district; participative workshops with municipal government stakeholders; and, lastly, confirmation of the problems identified through correlation analysis of available historical data. The main result of this research was the determination of carrying capacity issues in El Quisco. This broadly coincides with indications from the existing literature and TPIs, while factors identified by local stakeholders are territory-specific, giving rise to new measurement variables. It was possible, in turn, to rule out certain carrying capacity issues perceived by the community.

Urban Growth, Real Estate Development and Indigenous Property: Simulating the Expansion Process in the City of Temuco, Chile

Urbanization is spreading across the world and beyond metropolitan areas. Medium-sized cities have also undergone processes of accelerated urban expansion, especially in Latin America, thanks to scant regulation or a complete lack thereof. Thus, understanding urban growth in the past and simulating it in the future has become a tool to raise its visibility and challenge territorial planners. In this work, we use Markov chains, cellular automata, multi-criteria multi-objective evaluation, and the determination of land use/land cover (LULC) to model the urban growth of the city of Temuco, Chile, a paradigmatic case because it has experienced powerful growth, where real estate development pressures coexist with a high natural value and the presence of indigenous communities. The urban scenario is determined for the years 2033 and 2049 based on the spatial patterns between 1985 and 2017, where the model shows the trend of expansion toward the northeast and significant development in the western sector of the city, making them two potential centers of expansion and conflict in the future given the heavy pressure on lands that are indigenous property and have a high natural value, aspects that need to be incorporated into future territorial planning instruments.

Ecosystem services and uses of dune systems of the coast of the Araucanía Region, Chile: A perception study

Coastal dunes can offer a series of Ecosystem Services (ES), especially to local communities. This study aimed to evaluate these benefits by exploring the perception of the Mapuche communities and representatives of the local government concerning the ES provided by the coastal dune fields of the Araucanía Region of Chile. Binary, multiple-choice, Likert scale and open questions were used to explore the general knowledge of 49 subjects about the ES provided by the dunes. Closed questions were analysed using Fisher's exact test, and tests of goodness of fit chi-square and G, while open questions were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The results showed that (1) cultural services were more important for Mapuche communities, while tourism was more valued for local government, (2) tourism and stock-raising were the most frequent use given to the dunes in the opinion of local government and Mapuche communities respondents, respectively, (3) both groups think that dunes offer habitat for biodiversity, and (4) the regulation of natural processes is one of the most important functions for both groups, although Mapuche communities consider that dune fields would not attenuate the effects of a tsunami. The conclusion is that dune fields offer a series of benefits, which are perceived in different ways by Mapuche communities and representatives of the local government. The lack of recognition of this knowledge is one of the main gaps in Chile's territorial planning instruments since it could make a decisive contribution to the management of social-ecological systems by zoning areas and identifying singular components, especially in Mapuche territories.

Vivienda sin ciudad, ciudad sin planificación, planificación sin habitantes: APP para la reconstrucción territorial post-desastre

Socio-natural disasters and their reconstruction processes are an opportunity for the territories and their communities. The 27F disaster initiated a Private Public Partnership (PPP) model that gave birth to the formulation of Master Plans as instruments of territorial planning and reconstruction. The PRES Constitution was the most publicized Master Plan of all. PPP for urban reconstruction claims for more conceptual attention to grasp its purpose of innovation and high-quality solutions based on citizen participation and high-level technical teams. The main housing project in Constitucion, Villa Verde, exposes the limitations of this model in order to break the trends in planning practices implemented in recent decades in Chile. The paper seeks to ask to what extent the PRES model overcomes the deficiencies of regular urban policies? And, to what extent were the affected communities involved? The findings show a reproduction of past planning practices due to technocratic rationality and private interests. The paper is based on a systematic experience of fieldwork since 2010 with the communities of Constitucion.

The Urban Dimension of the Albanian Transition Cities Was Damaged as a Result of the ‘Big Government’ and Not Its Absence: An Assessment in Relation to the Planning Instruments!

Albanian inhabited cities and centres have undergone chaotic developments in the years of transition, and this has come as a result of development not based on previous territorial and urban planning. Thus, construction, urban and territorial development in the transition years has not been the result of the implementation of previously approved territorial and urban planning instruments. This has come as a result of the lack of territorial and urban plans (local or national), which would precede construction and urban development with the aim of making this development smart, sustainable and comprehensive. In this context, we have made an observation in attempt to find the reasons for the lack of territorial and urban planning instruments in relation to governance. Our concern is focused on the question: has the scope of governance been so narrow that it has left out the task of drafting and approving territorial planning instruments; or was their absence for other reasons? As will be presented in this paper, transitional governments have not lacked: neither sectoral legislation that obliges the implementation of planning instruments; nor public institutions charged by law specified by duties in this field; nor public budget funding and foreign donors for their design. In contrast, it has been the characteristics of the left ‘big government’ and the public irresponsibility that characterize what have hindered the drafting and adoption of territorial and urban planning instruments.

Strengthening the Importance of the Citizen in Territorial Government: A Necessity for Development and Modernization of Albania - A Libertarian Approach to Territorial Issues

Albania is a developing country that has embarked on the path of transition from a society of monist governance and centralized planning economy to a society of liberal democracy with free market economy 30 years ago. It is not moving at the pace it intended in the early 1990s, because of the etatist mentality of the country's political elite, but often also of experts in certain sectors. This has happened in these years also in the sector of territorial planning and development, where etatist understandings have impeded the empowerment of citizens in the processes of drafting territorial planning and development decision-making. This has led to development taking place in two different ways, on one hand governments have attempted to control development by forcing citizens to interact with the territory according to the rigid rules imposed by the government, and on the other hand the citizens have carried out construction developments in a fragmented manner, and without any harmony between each other and the obligations of government. In this paper we aimed to build another approach for future development in an Albania aiming at integration into the European Union. This path should be development based on previously adopted territorial planning instruments, drawn up in democratic and parliamentary processes. Governance must understand and accept the new and different role it played 30 years ago in territorial development issues, and recognize citizens as co-actors in the processes of drafting territorial and urban planning instruments.

Touching Down in Cities: Territorial Planning Instruments as Vehicles for the Implementation of SDG Strategies in Cities of the Global South

We discuss municipal physical-spatial planning instruments as vehicles for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in cities in the Global South. We do this by focusing on Medellin, Colombia, a city that has endured significant challenges–mainly related to poverty and violence–, but has attracted significant international attention due to its approach to territorial planning and its innovative application of new and existing legal tools to transform realities and repay historical debts with the urban poor. We performed a review of the most important documents related to SDG implementation in the country and the city, as well as Municipal Development Plans and legal planning instruments issued from 1 January 2016. The article maps active planning instruments and suggests the analysis, already from the diagnosis and formulation phases, of the linkage among strategies and projects, and SDGs, and the inclusion of SDG considerations in citizen participation instruments such as so-called Local Development Plans.

Ordenamiento en disputa y espacialización de la injusticia en Colombia

Este artículo analiza las relaciones entre ordenamiento territorial y reconocimiento étnico a partir de las experiencias de dos comunidades afrodescendientes localizadas en el valle plano del río Cauca, Colombia: El Hormiguero y El Tiple. Se ilustran las tensiones del Estado colombiano, surgidas entre el reconocimiento diferenciado de derechos a las poblaciones étnicas y los mecanismos para ordenar el uso y la apropiación de la naturaleza. La metodología empleada tuvo un enfoque cualitativo de tipo etnográfico y archivístico, donde se privilegió la interacción con las comunidades organizadas en torno a los Consejos Comunitarios y la revisión del extenso archivo normativo que sustenta el ordenamiento territorial municipal. El análisis comparativo de los casos de El Hormiguero y El Tiple demuestra una forma institucionalizada de injusticia espacial dada la imposición de facto de intereses económicos privados sobre el ordenamiento de los territorios. Injusticia que ha privado a las comunidades afrodescendientes de los derechos étnicos adquiridos, como el reconocimiento, el territorio y la consulta previa, libre e informada.Ideas destacadas: artículo de investigación sobre el confinamiento de las comunidades afrodescendientes en el valle plano del río Cauca que implica injusticia en cuanto a la distribución de la propiedad y del uso del suelo. La segmentación espacial causada por la expansión de la caña de azúcar ha sido instituida por instrumentos de planificación territorial, incluso negando derechos constitucionales de estas comunidades.

PLANIFICACIÓN TURÍSTICA EN COMUNIDADES RURALES: CASO DE ISLA DE CHIRA, CORRAL DE PIEDRA Y SAN JUAN EN EL GOLFO Y PENÍNSULA DE NICOYA, COSTA RICA / TOURISM PLANNING IN RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF ISLA DE CHIRA, CORRAL DE PIEDRA AND SAN JUAN IN THE GULF AND PENINSULA OF NICOYA, COSTA RICA

El turismo como actividad esencial dentro de la economía de Costa Rica desde la década de los años ochenta, ha contribuido en el desarrollo de diversas comunidades en todo el país. A pesar de la importancia de la actividad turística muchos gobiernos locales no han implementado instrumentos de planificación territorial como el plan regulador o a nivel sectorial como planes de desarrollo turístico que favorezcan el avance de la misma.Con el fin de apoyar a las comunidades locales en la implementación de actividades turísticas esta comunicación se establece como objetivo, presentar una propuesta de planificación turística para las comunidades de isla de Chira, Corral de Piedra y San Juan localizadas en el golfo y la península de Nicoya, Costa Rica. Para ello, se aplica una estrategia de planificación que permite delimitar zonas turísticas en dichas comunidades. A partir del análisis del sistema turístico, se establece la vocación de los recursos turísticos, se caracteriza la demanda y oferta turística e identifican los principales actores asociados a la actividad en la zona, para identificar los elementos homogeneizadores del espacio que permiten proponer zonas de planificación turística.

La anulación del Plan de Protección del Corredor Litoral de Andalucía por el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía: ¿nuevas dificultades en la planificación territorial de Andalucía?

Las recientes Sentencias del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía que anulan el Plan de Protección del Corredor Litoral de Andalucía, tras dos años de vigencia y, nuevamente, los motivos de tales resoluciones judiciales, no desconocidos para esta Comunidad Autónoma que ya en 2015 se enfrentaba a la nulidad de otro de sus instrumentos de planificación territorial, el Plan de Ordenación del Territorio de la Costa del Sol Occidental de Málaga, hacen necesaria una nueva reflexión sobre la importancia que la tramitación y el estricto cumplimiento de las cuestiones formales en la aprobación de los instrumentos de planificación territorial tienen en la práctica jurídica.

Parques patrimoniais (agrários, fluviais, geoparques): o território das águas

Regional development projects in the twentieth century mainly favored efficiency and technical rationality, but did not consider local realities and the real needs of the communities involved. It is essential to know and respect the cultural aspects related to the use and management of water in every region and in every society, because the key issue of water resources management processes is not purely technical, but stems from ignorance of the socio-cultural dimension before, during and after the implementation of these projects and policies. This article seeks to associate the idea of heritage parks (agrarian, riverparks, geoparks), water and land systems, and culture as territorial planning instruments, under integrated watershed management programs.