Implemented by Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: the Urban NEXUS 10/12/2013 Page 1
The Governance Dimension of the Urban Nexus: Integrated Spatial Planning as Essential Condition for Sound Development Results - The Framework for Integrative Urban Development in Germany Martin Schreiner (GIZ/CIM) Urban Development Specialist Advisor for Urban Legal and Regulatory Development Ministry of Construction, Hanoi, Vietnam 10/12/2013 Nexus 2013 Page 2
OUTLINE A. INTRODUCTION THE URBAN NEXUS AND SPATIAL PLANNING B. THE SYSTEM OF INTEGRATIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN GERMANY B.1 THE URBAN MASTER PLAN AS PIVOTAL TOOL FOR STEERING URBAN DEVELOMENT B.2 THE LANDSCAPE PROGRAM AND OTHER SECTORAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS B.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT C. BALANCING COMPETING INTERESTS INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT INTO THE URBAN MASTER PLAN D. IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN MASTER PLANS Page 3
A. INTRODUCTION THE URBAN NEXUS AND SPATIAL PLANNING The Nexus Project promotes the implementation of planning and management approaches for integrated urban resource management in the energy, water, and food security sectors Energy generation and distribution, freshwater procurement and wastewater treatment, and agricultural production have a common feature: they need space Under the conditions of rapid urbanization in Asian cities, the uses of land not yet built-up are hotly contested. The three sectors face challenges from the conversion of agricultural areas and other not built-up land into building land Integrative and well-organized spatial planning for cities and towns is becoming an essential necessity Yet spatial planning systems in Asian countries and cities are frequently fragmented and disjointed Page 4
Rapid population growth, urbanization and resulting supply gaps, as well as challenges posed by climate change do not permit to continue in the business-as-usual mode Change is warranted on a massive scale The flows of materials and the current practice of urban planning need to be improved Integrative systems of spatial planning which achieve sound outcomes exist in other parts of the world for example in some EU countries, but also in Canada and some States of the US From the EU, the example of Germany shall serve as a modestly successful point of reference Page 5
B. THE SYSTEM OF INTEGRATIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN GERMANY B.1 THE URBAN MASTER PLAN AS PIVOTAL TOOL FOR STEERING URBAN DEVELOMENT Covers the entire area of a city Includes all agricultural areas, forests, and other open space located within the administrative boundaries of a city Central instrument to shape medium-term settlement expansion and development Central instrument for preparing and guiding the conversion of agricultural land and other open space into building land residential, industrial, commercial, retail Time horizon: 10 years to maximal 15 years Page 6
Central designation of the core no-construction areas the fundamental taboo areas: Physical form of landscape; Rivers, streams, and lakes; Floodplains; and Forests cannot be altered they are sacred Demarcation of future maximal settlement growth boundary delineation between red areas for construction and green areas for agriculture and other open space the front line of urban expansion Demarcation is binding for all private investors and public actors Work program for urban master plans must be based on empirically sound research on demographic trends, migration, and economic development trends All planning objectives must be based on empirically justified needs and demands Page 7
STYLIZED URBAN MASTER PLAN UNDEVELOPED OUTSKIRTS AREA: FIELDS, FORESTS LAKES, OTHER OPEN SPACE AREAS FOR FUTURE SETTLEMENT EXPANSION (T=+15) COHERENTLY BUILT-UP AREA (T=0) ADMINISTRATIVE CITY BOUNDARY Page 8
Please note the term undeveloped outskirts area on the previous slide The term undeveloped outskirts area is defined in one single section of the German Urban Planning Law (out of about 250) The section rules that all over Germany the areas not coherently built-up cities, towns, and villages proper are no-build-areas by default Only farms, gravel pits, buildings for technical infrastructure, and dangerous facilities such as factories for explosives get building permits: privileged projects The status undeveloped outskirts area can only be altered through urban master plans and the subsequent legally binding detailed plans One central purpose for preparing urban master plans: to facilitate the future conversion of open space - to prepare for eliminating an area s current legal quality as undeveloped outskirts area Page 9
URBAN MASTER PLAN BERLIN 2004 2015/2020 Page 10
LONG-TERM GLOBAL GROWTH TRENDS: GROWTH RATE OF BUILT-UP LAND IS HIGHER THAN GROWTH OF POPULATION/HOUSEHOLDS 1990s: URBAN POPULATION 1.6% p.a. / URBAN LAND COVER 3.7% p.a. HOUSING UNITS RETAIL AREAS MANUFACTURING AREAS (INCL. AREAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGIES) CONVERSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND AND OTHER OPEN SPACE INTO BUILDING LAND DETRIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS Page 11
DETRIMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS CORE ISSUE: SOIL/SURFACE SEALING LOSS OF BIO- PRODUCTIVE LAND REDUCTION OF BIODIVERSITY REDUCTION OF SURFACE AREA FOR ABSORBING RAIN WATER RUN-OFF REDUCTION OF AREAS FOR FRESH AIR GENERATION; LOCAL HEATING EFFECTS IMPACTS ARE MEASURED, IDENTIFIED, AND FORECAST IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IMPACTS, MITIGATION AND COMPENSATION MEASURES ARE SYNTHESIZED IN A CITY S LANDSCAPE PROGRAM Page 12
B.2 THE LANDSCAPE PROGRAM AND OTHER SECTORAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS B.2.1 LANDSCAPE PROGRAM Mandatory document - covers the entire area of a city Outcome of comprehensive research program Essential contents: Assigns agricultural areas which shall keep this function Identifies areas (built-up and not built up) on which to enhance biodiversity Designates areas to protect ground water resources Designates areas for future ecological upgrading and improvement to compensate for detrimental environmental impacts from future construction activities elsewhere in the city Page 13
Harmful impacts of construction must be neutralized and compensated for Foundation for ecological accounting Main objective: environmental up-grading - improvement of biodiversity, augmentation of biomass, enlargement of rainfall absorption capacity, improvement of groundwater formation Minimal objective: zero-sum outcome no worsening of baseline situation In the national legal hierarchy, the landscape program is under the urban master plan Page 14
LANDSCAPE PROGRAM BERLIN 2004 2015/2020 Page 15
B.2.2 OTHER SECTORAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANS Sectoral plans of environmental significance have been prepared and have become mandatory since the 1880s Plans for wastewater collection systems - sewerage networks and locations of future waste water treatment plants Plans for solid waste collection and locations of future solid waste treatment plants Plans for water supply networks and water utilities including the spatial designation of protected surface areas under which groundwater extraction takes place, and riparian areas Transportation plans - growing significance for low-carbon urban environment Plans for the locations of wind farms and of areas for generating solar energy - since the late 1990s City development plans for climate change - since around 2005 Page 16
B.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Environmental assessment (EA) of urban master plans is legally mandatory since 2004 EA is the central instrument for the incorporation of the findings of the sectoral environmental documents including the landscape program EA must establish the present state of the environment (baseline) in an evidence-based fashion EA must identify significant expected detrimental impacts of the urban master plan EA must prepare a forecast on the future development of the state of the environment, if the urban master plan is implemented EA must explain the measures to avoid, to mitigate, and to compensate for detrimental impacts of the urban master plan Page 17
EA takes the form of a comprehensive environmental report EA report must outline alternative options for spatial planning and give evidence-based arguments why alternative options were not pursued by the city The environmental report becomes part of the Explanatory Memorandum/Statement of Grounds, which accompanies the urban master plan as a major text document Cities must set up a monitoring mechanism for monitoring and identifying significant negative environmental impacts of the urban master plan In sum: EA operates as a pivotal integrating mechanism, which integrates environmental plans and environmental studies in interdisciplinary and mutually interrelated ways Page 18
CORE LEGAL DETERMINANTS OF THE PROCESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRATION CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REGULATE LOCAL AFFAIRS ON THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY WITHIN THE LIMITS PRESCRIBED BY THE LAW (ART. 28, SECTION 2 BASIC LAW) FEDERAL URBAN PLANNING LAW & FEDERAL NATURE CONSERVATION LAW FEDERAL GENERAL ADMINSTRATIVE LAW CRIMINAL CODE ANTICORRUPTION PROVISIONS C. BALANCING COMPETING INTERESTS - INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT INTO THE URBAN MASTER PLAN LEGAL COMMENTARY LEGAL DECISIONS: FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COURT & ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS OF THE GERMAN STATES (LÄNDER) CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REGULATE LOCAL AFFAIRS ON THEIR OWN RESPONSIBILITY WITHIN THE LIMITS PRESCRIBED BY THE LAW (ART. 28, SECTION 2 BASIC LAW) Page 19
C. BALANCING COMPETING INTERESTS INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT INTO THE URBAN MASTER PLAN Integrating the outcomes of EA into the urban master plan is a political and administrative process Legislation on EA kept the core procedural guideline for preparing urban plans unchanged: In preparing urban master plans, public and private interests are to be duly weighed and fairly balanced. The city assembly in its decision-making process on the final contents of the urban master plan has to take into account private investment interests as well Page 20
Private investment interests in most cases aim at urban horizontal expansion, i.e. growth based on the conversion of open space into building land Thus, private investment interests mostly compete with the public interests of urban environmental improvement and protection As a result there are urban planning conflicts In the German system, urban planning conflicts are openly discussed in the public domain, accessible to the general public, and frequently hotly disputed Hence, a compromise between conflicting public and private interests needs to be found It is the task of the city assembly to establish this compromise and to decide on its final form Outcomes depend on the political composition of the city assembly and the effectiveness of the lobbying of the affected interest groups Page 21
The EA enters the compromise-finding process without any modifications of its contents In the process determined by the parameters shown above, EA has to give Some of its proposals will be transferred into designations of the urban master plan, others will be watered down, some will be dropped entirely The city assembly has to bring forward substantial arguments exclusively related to urban development, why the urban master plan does not follow recommendations put forward by the EA These arguments have to be convincing e.g. the proven need for additional housing units Spatial requirements for economic growth continue to be important as well e.g. the need for local job creation through new factories Page 22
Specific local needs, conditions, and circumstances are always the decisive factors Urban expansion is still possible and continues - but in ways better thought-out and environmentally more friendly Urban expansion now serves as a lever to ecologically upgrade open space of lower quality and to enhance its biodiversity and carbon absorbing capacity Page 23
D. IMPLEMENTATION OF URBAN MASTER PLANS How do the designations of the approved urban master plan arrive in the construction permit? APPROVED URBAN MASTER PLAN (SCALE: 1:10,000 TO 1:20,000) LEGALLY BINDING DETAILED PLANS (SCALE: 1:1,000 TO 1:2,000) CONSTRUCTION PERMITS (SCALE: 1:50 TO 1:100) More details on this you will learn on Wednesday through the highly illuminating presentation of Mrs. Erlbeck and Mr. Trosse from GIZ Page 24
Thank you very much for your attention! Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this Presentation are solely those of the author Martin Schreiner and do not necessarily reflect views of the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam, which the author works with as an advisor assigned to through the CIM program of GIZ. Page 25