Land use - National Responses (Portugal)

Initiatives related to land have been gaining ground in political discussions at EU level. Territorial cohesion has been debated in an intergovernmental context since the 1990s and the same is true in Portugal. PNPOT, published in 2007, is a strategic instrument for territorial development for Portugal. It was formulated according to the guiding principles of the European Spatial Development Perspective, the guidelines of the Lisbon Strategy and in coherence with the National Strategy for Sustainable Development.

Soil policy, fundamental for spatial planning and urban rehabilitation, dates from 1976. There is an urgent need to update current legislation, among other things to prevent property speculation. A new soil policy is one of the explicit objectives of the government programme for 2009-2013 which, together with the decentralisation of territorial planning, will promote such aspects as a new approach to coastal area problems and a new policy for cities. The new soil policy should clarify and regulate public administration and citizens’ rights, especially for land owners and others involved in land use change. It is also important to reinforce supervising competences and improve the mechanisms of plan execution in the planning system.

In coastal areas the focus will be on carrying out integrated coastal zone management in connection with marine strategy, especially in the areas of risk management and beach revitalisation, but also to introduce a governance model that will guarantee integrated, but efficient, management of coastal areas, given the multiplicity of jurisdictions.

The policy for cities will give special emphasis to urban rehabilitation measures. Urban sustainability will also be promoted through specific measures to reduce greenhouse gases and promote sustainable mobility.

References

• MAOTDR (2007). Programa Nacional da Política de Ordenamento do Território. Ministério do Ambiente, do Ordenamento do Território e do Desenvolvimento Regional, Lisboa.
  http://www.territorioportugal.pt/pnpot/Storage/pdfs/PNPOT_RELATORIO.pdf

• Programa do XVIII Governo Constitucional
  http://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/GC18/Documentos/Programa_GC18.pdf