The Sustainable Urban Development Law

The Sustainable Urban Development Law is a regulatory instrument on a national level and the first act on sustainable urban development in the country. It lays out principles, guidelines, instruments and norms to achieve sustainable urban development. The Law focuses on active citizen participation, social housing, extensive competences of municipalities, financial instruments for urban development and the incorporation of disaster risk management, mitigation and climate adaptation criteria in urban planning. The instrument introduces innovative financial instrument such as the participation of the state in the increase in value of the land (added value of the land), given that this exceptional increase in the price of land was due to the works of the state or due to zoning changes. It should further be used for e.g. public green infrastructure investments or water supply.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Landslide risk
Social cohesion
Social equity
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The law includes as one of the principles of sustainable planning and action the ecosystem based-approach, a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources. With regard to urban planning under this laws the areas, which should be taken into account are inter alia the environment, climate change adaptation and mitigation or risk and resilience factors.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation (MVCS)

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

Regional and Local Governments are competent to develop, approve and update the Territorial and Urban Development Plans. They shall ensure, with assistance of the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation, proper coordination between the various Spatial and Urban Development Plans and the Concerted Development Plans on a national level as well as other strategic planning instruments within the framework of the National Strategic Planning System (SINAPLAN). Effective citizen participation has to be guaranteed in the decision-making processes of Spatial and Urban Development Plans. Citizens must be able to intervene through proposals, e.g. regarding environmental components of rural and urban centres.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Coalition

Type of actor involvement:

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

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Local governments shall guarantee effective citizen participation in the processes of preparing, designing, co-producing and approving the Spatial and Urban Development Plans. Anyone interested may submit a proposal with due justification to be considered by the competent Public Entities. If plans or other measures of indigenous or native people, are implemented, the collective rights of indigenous or native people are guaranteed. Linguistic and cultural appropriateness shall be ensured throughout the whole process with assistance of the Ministry of Culture.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Targeted actors:

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

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Details about instrument financing:

During the course of this research no details on the financing of the law was found.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

Local governments will implement control and monitoring mechanisms to verify compliance with the regulations adopted in application of the DUS Law. Civil society plays a critical role in the monitoring process to ensure accountability.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The Sustainable Urban Development Act (Ley DUS) is an innovative, broad and unique law promoting sustainable urban planning on every level. It has numerous provisions on sustainable urban development and in particular emphasizes effective citizen participation, social housing and new financial instruments. For this reason, as well as others, the Ley DUS will have an huge impact on future urban planning in Peru. With regard to NBS and ecosystem restoration the law is a innovative effort to promote action with an ecosystem- based approach and urban planning focusing on nature and sustainability. The law also provides guidelines for the elaboration of local urban management plans which include climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and green spaces management.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The law shows a commitment of the national government to promote urban planning with a strong focus on sustainability and NBS. There is still an ongoing process regarding its implementation through regulations and articulation with other levels of government to implement the guidelines at the local and regional levels.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

La Ley de Desarrollo Urbano Sostenible. (2021) El Peruano. Availabe at: https://busquedas.elperuano.pe/normaslegales/ley-de-desarrollo-urbano-sostenible-ley-n-31313-1976352-2/ https://urbanistas.lat/ley-de-desarrollo-urbano-sostenible/ (Accessed: 30.01.2023)

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://urbanistas.lat/ley-de-desarrollo-urbano-sostenible/

https://www.echecopar.com.pe/publicaciones-los-10-puntos-mas-importantes-de-la-l…

https://rubio.pe/publicacionescont/ley-n-31313-ley-de-desarrollo-urbano-sostenib…

https://cms.law/es/per/publication/publican-reglamento-de-acondicionamiento-terr…

https://www.gob.pe/institucion/vivienda/noticias/657990-ministerio-de-vivienda-a…

https://elcomercio.pe/economia/peru/ministerio-de-vivienda-aprueba-uno-de-los-re…

https://peru21.pe/opinion/opinion-victor-garcia-toma-dandole-constitucionalidad-…

Photos

@gob.pe