Local Governance Dynamics in Strategic Spatial Planning

Local Governance Dynamics in Strategic Spatial Planning for Sustainable Development of Social Housing The case of the Metropolitan Area of the AburrĂĄ Valley

Danny AndrĂŠs Osorio Gaviria

Abstract Nowadays, one of the most critical issues in Latin American cities is the high quantitative and qualitative deficit of housing. In the specific case of the Metropolitan Area of the AburrĂĄ Valley, the second most populated metropolitan area in Colombia, the problems related to housing are associated to the deficit of housing units, dwellings in high risk areas and poor habitability conditions.

As part of the vision of the public entities to solve these issues the Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective was formulated. This strategic plan must be coordinated with the National System of Social Housing to provide general guidance to municipalities and regulations on the metropolitan issues. In this regard, some research questions emerge: What is the condition, concerning governance, of the local context where the plan will be applied? And more particularly, how is the articulation of the public policies given in the Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective among the local governance dynamics?

The starting point of this research is a review of the metropolitan and local context where the plan will be applied. In second place, the mechanisms of regulation contemplated in this plan at local level will be analyzed from a perspective of Strategic Spatial Planning as a process led by the public sector, focused on specific strategic issues and the implementation of visions, actions and means in the solution of complex problems at different levels [Albrechts, 2003]. Finally, the review of the local context will be confronted with the theoretical perspectives on local governance and how is the implementation process to the specific features of the place in terms of strategic spatial planning and sustainable development.

The expected result of this analysis is the understanding of the relevance of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective as a planning instrument of strategic and prospective management at local level, which allows to develop and coordinate the metropolitan public policies applied to social housing in coherence and consistency with local policies of the municipalities as a consolidation process of the political agreements in the model of occupation and qualification of the local habitat.

Keywords: Social Housing, Public Policy, Governance, Strategic Spatial Planning, Housing Policy.

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Introduction The Metropolitan Area of the AburrĂĄ Valley is the second most populated metropolitan area in Colombia. The region is composed by ten municipalities where MedellĂ­n is the most important urban center and the capital city of the Antioquia Department.

The rapid urbanization process in the hillside of the valley is an important government concern especially regarding environmental and housing issues. There is a need for longterm thinking leaded by the local governments but always guided by the regional and central government. The agenda in strategic spatial planning in Colombia is developed from the national to the municipal level; however, this hierarchy affects the continuity of the long-term processes because the vision and the short-term actions usually have a temporary validity for each period of government (Four years).

Nowadays, the strategic spatial plans are being developed integrating the local and regional tiers in the planning decision making strengthening the local organization base of citizens and increasing their capacity to achieve agreements with the government and important actors in the planning processes at local and regional level [Albrechts, 2015].

Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective In Colombia, it is responsibility of the metropolitan areas the coordination process of the National Social Housing System regarding public policies and strategic spatial planning, as well as the general guidance of the municipalities and the regulation of the metropolitan issues.

In this regard, the Metropolitan Development Plan establishes the social housing policies as an essential matter for the state. These public policies as actions related to social, economic and demographic aspects, constitute a territorial policy as an urban-regional development model. As part of the local issues, it is contemplated the application of the planning instruments and governance mechanisms as administration of social entities like organizations, neighborhoods and localities, and the role of agents like workers, members, and citizens in the decision-making processes [Moulaert, 2007]. In addition, the land use, social and politic control, environmental efficiency, costs reduction and the real estate, commercial and financial activities affect the affordability and the employment generation and productive chain at local level. Moreover, the interdependence of housing at different levels as demographic, social, cultural, territorial, environmental and public services are associated policies; the coexistence and governance become key factors of the plan in harmony, coherence and consistency with the national and local policies of each municipality of the metropolitan region.

The guiding processes to contribute in the sustainability of the development and consolidation of the territorial occupation model are based in social equity criteria and the development of the agreements between strategic actors of the territory: municipalities and communities. These processes are articulated with other plans as the Bio 2030 Master Plan and the Medellin Strategic Housing Plan. The plan is developed in phases: first, the strategic planning stage, in second place, the diagnosis and in third place, the Strategic Spatial Planning [H02N1a] _ KU Leuven 20015

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formulation, consultation and approval. As part of the institutional aspects regarding to the articulation of the public policies with the local governance dynamics was created the Metropolitan Council of Housing and Habitat.

Figure 1: Strategic Spatial Planning and public policy at different levels. [Source: Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective, 2012].

Review of National Policies Regarding the social housing national policies, there is a discontinuity because each period of state government has its own policies which change totally when a new government is elected; therefore there is no continuum in the long-term vision from the national government level. There are no strong institutional aspects in the public sector which enables the operation of a social housing system, in other words, it is not possible to coordinate, harmonize and optimize the capacities and resources of the local, public, private and community actors involved in different processes of the governance dynamics of human settlements. The national authorities do not formally recognize the capacity of self-governance of the organized communities, there are not effective controls against the growth of the informal settlements and nor methodologies or processes which articulate the existing fragmented local governance systems and consider the social housing in its capacity to contribute in the improvement of the economy of the inhabitants as an autoproduction process.

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Review of Regional Context The social housing projects are one of the strategic lines for the Antioquia Department. In the Development Plan for Antioquia 2012-2015 and in the Departmental Strategic Plan it arises the inclusion of all territories to the development proposal, recognizing the dignity and capacity of the inhabitants to assume their own development, the equity in the access to opportunities and the distribution of benefits of the social life. The Department has developed a strategy to improve the territory and guide it in the terms of competitiveness, regional and local development with the aim to establish sustainable urban structures at regional level.

Review of Metropolitan and Local Context The Metropolitan Area of the AburrĂĄ Valley is in charge of the articulation of the strategic plans with the actors of the metropolitan housing system. In this regard, the Metropolitan Development Plan 2020 establishes housing policies based on sustainability, comprehensiveness, governance, and democratic institutionality; on the other hand the Metropolitan Land Use Guidelines 2006 complements the housing policy for the occupation model of the metropolis until 2020.

The local government has formulated the Strategic Housing Plan for the Municipality of Medellin as a complementary instrument of the regional and national level public policies to guide and promote actions that improve the quality of life of the inhabitants from the urban and rural areas in MedellĂ­n. The strategic plan is a tool developed in a social and cultural process integrating key actors in the transformation of the city. The efficiency of this mechanism depends of the participation and commitment of the actors called to guide the governance of the territory supported by institutional guidelines for the development of social housing projects and a comprehensive habitat.

The strategic plan establishes as main lines of actions at local level the coverage, affordability and quality of the goods and services of housing and habitat, institutional development, productive land and quality in the production of housing, knowledge, learning and social innovation. The Mayoralty of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area of the AburrĂĄ Valley are in charge of the articulation between the social housing policies and the Bio 2030 Master Plan.

Local Governance Dynamics The Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Housing and Habitat with Environmental Perspective as a planning instrument considers the particularities and the articulation of existing processes in municipalities of the metropolitan area. The plan includes the vision of social and institutional, public and private actors with interests regarding the development of regional and local agreements about key factors in public policies, coverage and quality, sociocultural and environmental sustainability, land use, affordability, funding, the governance model of the housing system and the institutional, legal and regulatory development.

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The articulation and operation of the plan at local level is based in the contribution of the citizens and actors in accordance to its interests, competences and capacity of governance concerning to the analysis of problems from the historical and current situation, conjuncture, opportunities, and restrictions. As part of the participation mechanisms were implemented regional seminars and local forums in each municipality in the diagnostic and formulation phase.

The institutional development is a key factor in the integration process of regional agreements between public and private actors, especially with the local communities. A clear example of this is the project Juan Bobo in Medellin where the community and public institution were articulated for the viability of the project.

Figure 2: Juan Bobo, social housing project in MedellĂ­n. [Source: Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano EDU, 2014].

According to the municipal autonomy different strategies were raised for the achievement of the plan. In first place, the promotion and coordination of the national and local policies regarding the stimulation of the supply and demand. In second place, the support of the promotion of material banks and building equipment through information systems coordinated between all suppliers. In third place, the encouragement and incorporation of participatory components in the development of social housing projects as a legitimation mechanism according to the different social groups involved in the Strategic Spatial Planning [H02N1a] _ KU Leuven 20015

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development; enhancing the human, social and institutional capital, articulating them in function of the local development. Last but not least, the plan conceives the social housing, the environment and sustainability in a cooperative way at local level among citizens and community groups, private sector, local and metropolitan authorities.

Conclusion The initiatives mentioned before are related to different forms of local governance and considered indispensable in the implementation and operational processes of the plan.

The Tracing, Evaluation and Control System is the final stage of the plan, where the appropriation of the plan, the monitoring of the local dynamics and the social, political and financial control is responsibility of the diverse strategic actors, organizations linked to local governance arrangements and the local communities.

Before the implementation of the plan, there were no instruments to articulate local governance systems in the formulation and implementation of public policies regarding to social housing. The main initiative of the plan related to this issue is the creation of the Local Committees of Housing and Habitat, as a way to articulate the public policies and guidelines with the technical assistance system for the self-governance integrating and regulating the social housing activities at local level.

The understanding and articulation of the local governance dynamics is part of the emerging multi-actor and multi-level systems of local governance. This initiative faces the lack of horizontal and vertical integration in former planning and policy-making processes as part of a more flexible, participatory, adaptable and holistic approach, including especial attention to environmental issues as crucial element in the contemporary spatial planning policies [Cerreta et al, 2010].

The economic issues are one of the most important concerns about social housing in Colombia. For this reason, it is fundamental the integration of public policies for the resource management for strengthen the local and metropolitan investments in social housing through mechanisms that allow municipalities to provide capital for the solution of social housing deficit without affecting the budget structures and integrating private capital through marketing strategies at different levels.

One of the most important strategies to include in the upcoming plans is the fragmented local governance systems through coordination mechanisms with the public policies at higher level, following initiatives that involve decision-makers at structural management level and the normative dimension to support related local strategies [Cerreta et al, 2010].

The agendas at different levels must be articulated regarding short-term and long-term actions, involving key actors in a permanent process of participation at local level in major decisions [Albrechts, 2004] of the strategic plans as a planning instrument which allow arrangements between municipalities, communities and other strategic actors of the territory, coordinating the metropolitan public policies in coherence and consistency with local policies of the municipalities as a process of consolidation of the political agreements in the model of occupation and qualification of the local habitat.

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