Legislation and analysis of the implementation of spatial and urban planning in
Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Republic of Srpska and Turkey
Guidelines
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One of the most important and biggest competencies that have been transferred from
the central to the local level is spatial and urban planning. Planning is a responsibility
shared by central and local authorities.
Spatial and urban planning is a continuous process that needs to be mutually coordinated
in a complementary way. Likewise, it needs to be coordinated with the large number
of priorities coming from different areas of competency, in particular economic
and social development and environmental protection. It is necessary to complement
the policies and coordinate the priorities between all stakeholders at all levels
in order to achieve ideal spatial planning and adequate land usage. In this respect,
sustainable development becomes not just a top priority but also a necessity. The
protection of the property rights is also of great importance. Private property
and existing legislation often represent serious obstacles to the organization of
space when the need to build facilities of public interest arises. Due to a lack
of quality legislation in this field, it is often difficult to reconcile public
interest and the protection of the ownership rights for property subject to expropriation.
Citizens’ involvement in procedures to adopt and monitor the implementation of plans
is not sufficient. Although often foreseen by the law, practical application is
not satisfactory.
The most common general feature of legislation in the region in question is the
centralized approach to spatial and urban planning, in addition to the progressive
and incremental decentralization of the responsibilities relating to management,
preparation and implementation of the spatial plans. It is also obvious that other
than the different terminology and nomenclature used for the legal documents and
laws, the competencies regarding spatial and urban planning are usually not defined
in a single law, but rather in several legal acts, creating a dispersion of the
legal matter.
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