Territorial inequality, spatial mobility and vulnerability
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
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Territorial management
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
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
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
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
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
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. -
Territory and response to natural disasters and conditions of vulnerability
Formulate and implement strategies and policies that respond fully to situations of vulnerability to natural disasters, with a multidimensional protection focus before, during and after such events. -
Natural resources
Promote inclusive development of natural resources, avoiding the social and environmental damage that this may cause. -
Territorial planning and environmental risk management
Promote the use of georeferenced, sociodemographic analysis, disaggregated by sex, race and ethnicity, to improve territorial planning and environmental risk management.
Instruments
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Plan Nacional de Saneamiento
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Plan Nacional Ambiental para el Desarrollo Sostenible
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Gestión Integral de Residuos
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Ley de Descentralización y Participación Ciudadana
Crea el tercer nivel de gobierno y administración con autoridades electas, y amplía la participación de la ciudadanía en la gestión de gobierno.
Indicators
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Percentage of metropolitan, city or local governments that have information systems and use new technologies in planning and management decisions.
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Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (eg PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population-weighted) (SDG indicator 11.6.2).
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Proportion of the rural population living less than 2 km from a road that is passable all year round (indicator 9.1.1 of the SDGs).
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Housing in hazardous locations: number of homes built on hazardous locations per 100,000 housing units
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The country has integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning through the implementation of multidimensional strategies and policies.
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Percentage of energy generated through sustainable, clean and renewable production processes.
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The country has sustainable consumption and production national action plans mainstreamed as a priority or a target in national policies which cover, inter alia, wastewater treatment.
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Percentage of municipal or local master plans that, in their preamble, provide for disaggregated and georeferenced sociodemographic analysis.
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Average travel time to work, in minutes.
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Percentage of households that report being assaulted, suffering aggression or being the victim of a crime in the past 12 months, by minor administrative division.
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Percentage of the population participating in community recreational activities, by age group and minor administrative division.
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Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically.
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Proportion of population living in cities that implement urban and regional development plans integrating population projections and resource needs, by size of city.
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Percentage of urban and territorial development plans that incorporate the rights, gender and interculturality perspectives.
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Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing (SDG indicator 11.1.1).
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Proportion of urban solid waste collected periodically and with an adequate final discharge with respect to the total urban solid waste generated, broken down by city (indicator 11.6.1 of the SDGs).