USEAct Kick-off meeting in Viladecans

The Kick off meeting is one of the two USEAct Thematic seminar. The main theme of discussion will be Planning tools and Planning governance for an Urban Growth Management / Reusing urban areas. 

Urban Planning Tools are a crucial factor for an effective “Urban Growth Management Integrated Policy” (UGMIP). During the first Thematic Workshop of the USEACT Project, partners will have the occasion to discuss what is actually and what could be the role played by these specific tools within the UGM strategies carried on in the different local contexts.

Specific attention will be paid to two main aspects:a) outline and functionality of urban planning tools within UGMIP frameworks;b) governance issues and problems in Urban Planning within UGMIP frameworks.With reference to point a), it will be useful to identify, by each partner, the categories of UGM tools in force (or which could be required) within the UGMIP, to stimulate partners to raise awareness on the possibilities to innovate the usual approaches towards UGM tools and to blend articulated packages of tools.Development moratoria, rate of growth control, Urban Growth Boundaries, Green Belts, Buffer zones, Zoning or small lot zoning, are just examples of Urban Planning Tools which could be play a role within a local UGM IP. However, Urban Planning Tools have to be integrated strictly with further tools, as taxes and financial tools for promoting and funding integrated "reuse" interventions. Partners will also have the occasion to discuss how these tools can be integrated into the Urban Planning process.With reference to the point b), Use-Act baseline study recalled that in Europe, authorities have become increasingly dispersed through a variety of different levels, actors and agencies, creating a multilevel basis for governance and that horizontal and vertical coordination of policies has to be improved in many cases. This issue is highly relevant for an effective UGMIP as well. Partners willbe required to identify what are the most relevant governance challenges to enforce effective Urban Planning Schemes, to be harmonized with the local UGMIPs.Adequately measuring and monitoring soil consumption trough specific integrated tools shared, at a regional level, by different administrative/planning levels and geographical scales could be a starting point to better identify the issue and promote multilevel approaches for UGM.With specific attention to the above framework, partners are invited to share (trough cases studies, if any) their owns experiences with other partners on the following issues: 1) Implementing UGM at different administrative levels and scales; 2) planning tools to manage land property fragmentation for integrated "reuse" interventions; 3) taxes and financial tools for promoting and funding integrated "reuse" interventions; 4) transportation and planning for Urban Growth Management.Further experiences and cases studies will be proposed and discussed thanks to the participation of the Lead Expert of the URBACT II project LUMASEC, Mr. Didier Vancutsem and of the external expert of the University of Barcelona (UPC), Professor Adolf Sotoca.