Comments: (Uninformed)
Possible lines of action
1. Adopt policies for territorial planning and environmental sustainability that consider the country’s city systems and their rural surroundings. 2. Design urban development policies that are conducive to people’s well-being and to the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the city system and its rural surroundings. 3. Design a sustainable energy policy that includes the use of renewable energies. 4. Create and strengthen economic, social and environmental linkages and cooperation among the country’s different cities through strategies for developing the city system and its rural surroundings. 5. Design and implement programmes to improve air quality in the country’s main urban areas. 6. Introduce a geostatistical information system that contains standardized information useful for taking planning and management decisions.
Related instruments, forums and mechanisms
The Habitat agenda provides for follow-up to priority measure 80 with its proposal to “promote geographically balanced settlement structures”, in which it establishes two indicators: Key indicator 11 (urban population growth: average annual growth rate of population in the urban agglomeration or in national urban areas during the last five years (1998-2003 reference period)), and Key indicator 12 (planned settlements: level at which urban land is planned in order to cater to the needs of populations).
The Santiago Declaration of MINURVI (2013) addresses this matter in agreements 3 (“To establish homogeneous methodologies and indicators that allow comparison of the performance of cities, in order to optimize regional strategies and support their strengthening through cooperation”) and 4 (“Reduce the environmental impact on cities in a [comprehensive] manner through territorial [planning])”.
Sustainable Development Goals: several are related to this priority measure, including Goal 11 (“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”), target 11.3 (“By 2030 enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacities for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries”), target 11.6 (“By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality, municipal and other waste management”), target 11.a (“Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, periurban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning”), and target 11.b (“By 2020, increase by x% the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, develop and implement in line with the forthcoming Hyogo Framework holistic disaster risk management at all levels”).
