Tools for urban planning and management in Brazil: PLANO DIRETOR: TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT INSTRUMENT The 1988 Brazilian Constitution established the Plano Diretor as a basic tool for development to address urban sprawling. Municipalities with over 20 thousand inhabitants are obliged to draw up their Plano Director. After that, the Estatuto da Cidade expanded its obligation for municipalities within metropolitan regions, conurbations, areas of special touristic interest, and areas of environmental impact.
The traditional Planos Diretores were not sufficiently sensitive regarding the different range of existing realities within the urban area. Hence, the Plano Diretor Participativo (PDP) aims to correct that with the idea that the participation of the population is essential to plan urban development and to elaborate policies. The PDP’s fundamental goal is to determine how property will fulfill its social task in a way that guarantees the access to regularized and urban land and to ensure recognition by all citizens of the right to housing and urban services.
REQUIRES Governmental commitment, clear definition of the instrument and instances for citizen participation, technical capacities and financial resources for development and implementation of the plan.
PROVIDES Better use of the urban territory, defining a purpose for each area that attends both governmental and local community needs. Lines up and qualifies the use of land. This enables financial resources from planned urban development (licenses, regulations) and taxing of land rights.