Assignment of use of pedestrian green space - Montes de Oca- Costa Rica

The instrument is an urban planning mechanism developed in the Montes de Oca Regulatory Plan and is applied to commercial buildings. With this figure, the property makes available to pedestrians a part of its second floor, either in the front or an interior gallery. In this way, the urban space is favored, through the implementation of small squares, gardens, corridors, among others. In exchange, the municipality will allow the construction of an additional floor to the building. Although these spaces are not public, they will be available to people at least 12 hours a day, and it is recommended to leave them available 24 hours a day. These spaces are conducive to creating new green areas or improving existing ones and making them available to people, along with urban furniture, in such a way as to provide different ecosystem services such as support services, serving as habitat for species. They can also focus on providing regulating services such as pollination, regulation of local climate and air quality, and can provide cultural services such as tourism, aesthetic appreciation and recreation, as well as supporting physical and mental health.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Urban planning mechanisms

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Air quality
Noise
Social cohesion
Social equity
Nature appropriation / stewardship
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

An increase of green space in the city is encouraged, which favors the reduction of heat islands and the increase of connectivity in the city.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Multifunctional NBS support

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Policy business case

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Montes de Oca City Council

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

Municipality of Montes de oca by contracting private company

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private sector, corporate, business

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Co-planning or co-design of instrument (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Expert task force consultation

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys, etc.

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The instrument grants the owner of a property an incentive that allows him to improve the value of the property in exchange for walkable green space.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

instrument aimed at landowners in the canton of Montes de Oca

Targeted actors:

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs, NGOs, etc.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Corporate investment

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

Each person or company owning land or real estate assumes the cost of the work, which will depend on the size of the property.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

Municipality and Special Territorial Strategic Committee

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

Established in the Regulatory Plan

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The instrument has been available since 2007. However, there are few cases of application of the instrument before the local government of Montes de Oca. The Municipality is in charge of approving licenses and construction permits, as well as oversight. Additionally, in this canton there is also a Special Territorial Strategic Commission made up of civil society and municipal stakeholders that also serves as an overseer of the canton's construction works.

Success factors and lessons learned:

It is an opportunity for individuals and companies that own land with or without buildings that wish to build or remodel for commercial purposes, to develop their business in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, taking into account the health of people and the improvement of the environment in the canton. With the application of this tool, a percentage of the property is not lost and at the same time, it is shared with the rest of the society. In addition, it ensures that through the creation of small squares, gardens, corridors or similar, the quality of green space in the city is improved, and allows people to enjoy new commercial spaces, which can, in turn, attract potential buyers and consumers and generate spaces for social cohesion. In reality, this instrument has not reached its greatest potential, presumably due to a lack of awareness of its existence on the part of individuals and businesses interested in investing in their land, and possibly due to poor outreach by municipal officials. But it has enormous potential to transform the canton into a more accessible, biodiverse and pedestrian connected one. One of the application cases we have registered is on the main avenue of the canton, where there was an old building and with the application of the tool there is now a small square that is a transit space but at the same time contributes to the green spaces of the city and contributes to the improvement of the landscape.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Municipality of Montes de Oca ( 2007) Montes de Oca Regulatory Plan. Available at https://montesdeoca.go.cr/la_municipalidad/transparencia/planes_institucionales.aspx Legislative Assembly (1968) Law 4240 of November 15, 1968. Published in Semester 2 Volume 2 Page 740 of 1968.

Interview(s):

Mario Ruiz Salas. Former Municipal Councilor of Montes de Oca 2016-2020.

Further documents

Documents:

montes de oca.jpg

Photos

Calderon E, 2021