Territorial inequality, spatial mobility and vulnerability

Territory and internal migration
Chapter
G

Region countries have Instruments on Territory and internal migration

Policies and instruments

Latin America and the Caribbean have certain distinctive characteristics in the spatial distribution of the population. These include high rates of urbanization, with the attendant opportunities and risks, a persistent rural exodus, limited options for development in rural areas and small communities, a tendency for population and activities to be concentrated in a few dynamic centres, and the segregation and vulnerability that the poor face because of their geographical location.

Territorial and social inequalities are dialectically interwoven. Differences among subnational territories in terms of income, poverty, productivity, access to well-being and natural-resources endowment contribute to the overall contrasts in these indicators at the national level. Territorial inequalities occur at different geographical scales, between broad regions or major administrative divisions, between urban and rural areas, or between minor administrative divisions within the same city or metropolitan area. All these expressions of inequality are directly linked to the perpetuation of poverty and social inequality, the weakness of social cohesion, problems of sustainability, and governance difficulties. For this reason, it is vital to narrow the gaps among territories in order to attain greater equality. Hence the importance of policies that consider not only production convergence but also spatial convergence.

Priority Measures

  • Territorial management

    76
    Develop more closely coordinated, integrated and cohesive territories by designing and executing territorial and urban management plans, policies and instruments, administered in a participatory manner and based on a people-centred approach with a gender and human rights perspective and a vision of sustainability and environmental risk management.

  • Territories promoting the development and well-being of people

    77
    Promote the development and well-being of people in all territories without any form of discrimination, and provide full access to basic social services and equal opportunities for populations whether they live in urban or rural areas, in small, intermediate or large cities or in isolated areas or small rural settlements.

  • Decentralization, deconcentration and participatory planning

    78
    Expand and improve the processes of decentralization, deconcentration and participatory planning at the subnational and local levels, with emphasis on availability, accessibility and the quality of basic services, education and health, including sexual health and reproductive health and the prevention of violence against girls, adolescents and women.

  • Territory and coexistence

    79
    Design programmes to promote peaceful coexistence, continuing education, creative leisure pursuits, mental health and citizen security for the population in their territories in order to prevent the current social problems associated with issues such as poverty, social exclusion, the abusive use and trafficking of drugs, and gender-based violence.

  • Land use planning and environmental sustainability

    80
    Formulate development strategies for city systems to encompass territorial planning and environmental sustainability, promoting energy transition and sustainable production and consumption processes, taking into consideration social and environmental externalities, within a human rights framework, in order to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development, and strengthen all segments of such systems, including intermediate and small cities.

  • Territorial development with a gender and human rights perspective

    81
    Plan and manage territorial and urban development, from a human rights and gender perspective, by formulating mobility, population settlement and activity location policies that contemplate, among their objectives, avoiding the use of vulnerable and protected areas and preventing and mitigating the impact of socioenvironmental disasters and combating the environmental vulnerability of those living in poverty and ethnic and racial groups who are subject to discrimination, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.

  • Natural resources

    83
    Promote inclusive development of natural resources, avoiding the social and environmental damage that this may cause.

Instruments

SDG

Indicators

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