NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning: boosting urban development of SEE

From 25-26 November 2013, NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning met in Skopje, Macedonia to discuss the current urban planning challenges in South-East Europe. Task Force members informed each other about the recent developments in their countries in regards with urban planning, ongoing national and municipal projects most relevant to urban planning, as well as the role their Local Government Associations have in these processes.
A few of the Task Force members that took part in the meeting reported that their countries (Macedonia, Croatia, Albania) undergo a process of legalization of illegal buildings. Hundreds of thousands applications have been filed for legalization in the past two years and only 5-10% of them have been decided upon. As of June 2013, Macedonia launched electronic issuing of building permits, which became obligatory as of 1 November 2013. Turkey currently implements several huge projects related to urban development in the Bosporus, including the third airport in Istanbul, bridges, underground road infrastructure, etc. A few of the countries experience discussions for new territorial organization, or regionalization, in most of the cases without considering the opinion of the local authorities. Therefore, the group shared a bitter feeling that the SEE Region might be facing implicit wave of centralization.
Task Force members got the chance to learn more about the new NALAS Strategic Plan (2013-2017), the plans for further development of the NALAS Knowledge Centre, and the important role that Task Forces have in the NALAS Knowledge System. The Task Force also brainstormed on the focus that they should have to contribute in advancing the Urban Planning practices throughout the SEE region.
Territorial development and territorial attractiveness in the context of municipal urban planning were also in the focus of the meeting. The Attract SEE project and its partners attended part of the Task Force Meeting and explained their activities to improve understanding of comprehensive territorial dynamics and coordination among different public policies to achieve territorial cohesion and other development goals at all levels (transnational, national, regional and local). The ATTRACT SEE Project aims to develop tools and approaches, improve the competence and skills needed to monitor and understand interrelated territorial trends, and to incorporate the acquired knowledge into an integrated policy development process.
The meeting of the Task Force in Urban planning also included a visit to the Association of Local Self-Government Units of Macedonia (ZELS). This NALAS member succeeded to completely digitalize all administrative procedures pertaining from Law on Construction, including: issuing of building permits, reconstruction and superstructure permits, requests for issuing a permit for building use, requests for approval of a preliminary project, requests for changes during the construction, requests for change of an investor, requests for approval of preparatory works, requests for conversion approval, requests for issuing a reconstruction approval, requests for issuing an approval for adaptation and requests for issuing a decision to carry out a construction for which no building permit is required.
Since June 2013, 1044 requests have been registered into the “E-building permit” information system. The procedure of 436 subjects has been completed, while 205 building permits have been issued. In ZELS' opinion, the success of this system opens the door for introducing new electronic tools for providing good and efficient services to citizens. In the upcoming period, ZELS plans to disseminate their practice in electronic issuing of building permits in several SEE countries.
Latest Task Forces
-
Energy Efficiency
The NALAS Task Force on Energy Efficiency addresses the increasing issues with energy in South East Europe. As energy efficiency is an interdisciplinary field, this task brings together energy experts, municipal energy managers, mayors and other professionals who contribute together in mitigating the energy problems by proposing changes in the legislation, collecting best practices, encouraging better use of the available energy and employing renewable sources of energy.
-
Urban Planning
The NALAS Task Force on Urban Planning consists of regional urban planning experts representing member associations. It tackles urban planning issues common in the region, such us integration of informal settlements, inclusion of more stakeholders in the urban planning process and collection and analysis of the right parameters in what is known as "urban economics".
-
Sustainable Tourism
The NALAS Task Force on Sustainable Tourism is an emerging task force aimed to encourage tourism development in South East Europe based on sustainability principles. The role of the Task Force is to promote tourism policy, governance and operations that respect and protect the environment and biodiversity and foster social inclusion, while creating employment and income earning opportunities and contributing to socio-economic growth. This Task Force is hosted by the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
-
Fiscal Decentralization
The NALAS Task Force on Fiscal Decentralization consists of regional experts in local and intergovernmental finances representing member associations. The host association for this Task Force is the National Association of Local Governments of Bulgaria (NAMRB).
- View all