Latest Documents

This report examines spatial planning and policies in Israel. It describes the laws, policies and practices in the country as a whole, and provides a detailed assessment of arrangements and practices in two cities: Netanya, a fast-growing city on the Mediterranean coast; and Umm al-Fahm, the country’s third-largest city with a predominantly Arab population. Israel recently carried out a major reform of its land-use planning system, largely to address a housing shortage that has become critical. Detailed case studies highlight the trends and challenges faced in both cities and describe how policies designed at the national level affect local land-use issues. The report offers recommendations on how to strengthen the effectiveness of the spatial planning system and related policies to ensure that land is used in an effective and sustainable way.  

Morelos is one of the smallest states in Mexico, and close to Mexico City. It contains a number of economic and environmental assets in its territory, but has weak productivity levels. This review looks at how Morelos is seeking to boost its economy, particularly through inclusive growth policies such as enhancing human capital and promoting innovation. It also highlights areas of untapped potential for economic growth across rural areas and the tourism and environmental sectors, and offers suggestions for how Morelos could address governance challenges.

Kazakhstan has experienced a long period of high and sustained economic growth, largely driven by oil and gas exports. However, the drop in 2014 of the international price of oil highlighted the risks of dependence on natural resource activities. Kazakhstan must diversify its economic base to ensure that it can continue to 'catch up' and move into higher value-added goods and services. This review looks at how a modern approach to regional development can help Kazakhstan by mobilising the growth potential of different parts of the economy and territory, supporting economic diversification and reducing regional inequalities.

Urbanisation is an important condition for economic development, but must be managed effectively if cities are to realise their potential as engines of national growth. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of Kazakhstan’s urban policies in terms of economic, social and environmental impact. It analyses how national spatial planning for urban regions, along with specific sectoral policies, affect urban development directly and indirectly. It also looks at specific issues such as housing, public utilities, urban transport, and migration. The review assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of current urban governance arrangements, and makes recommendations for steps Kazakhstan can take to develop an attractive and well-managed system of large and medium-sized cities that can help it achieve its development objectives.

Amsterdam is a dynamic and growing metropolitan area that faces significant land-use pressures. Renowned for its tradition of collaborative planning, the city and its metropolitan partners must adapt to new conditions. Ongoing population growth is creating demand for housing and commercial space, and the new National Environment and Planning Act is challenging planners to adopt more flexible, responsive and integrated land-use management practices. This study examines the social, economic and environmental conditions affecting the area’s spatial development as well as the plans, policies and institutions that govern how land is used. The study offers recommendations on how the city and its metropolitan partners can best respond to emerging challenges and meet their ambitious goals for sustainable and inclusive spatial development.

Cities are crucial for national economic, social and environmental performance. A national urban policy (NUP) has been recognised by the international community as an important instrument for harnessing urbanisation to achieve national and global goals. This report, prepared for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), provides an assessment of the state and scope of NUPs across 35 OECD countries. It also describes how urban policy, and its place in national political agendas, is evolving. This publication has been prepared for the Habitat III conference and builds on existing United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) methodology. It is inspired by the joint work of UN-Habitat and the OECD following their co-leadership of Policy Unit 3 on National Urban Policies during the preparations for the New Urban Agenda. The findings of this report will contribute to the global monitoring process of National Urban Policy, as will the Global Report on National Urban Policy, jointly produced by UN Habitat and the OECD.

This report provides an overview of 'multi-level governance' reforms in OECD countries. It looks at institutional reforms, which reorganise powers, responsibilities and resources across levels of government, as well as territorial reforms, which address territorial structures, often modifying regional and local government administrative areas. The report describes the rationale for different reforms, their characteristics and outcomes, as well as the obstacles faced by governments in designing and implementing them. The success - and failure - of past reforms provide useful lessons that can be applied to future reform efforts. The report includes five case studies that take an in-depth look at countries that have undertaken considerable multi-level governance reforms: Finland, France, Italy, Japan and New Zealand.

This report provides an overview of spatial and land-use planning systems across the OECD. It contains country fact sheets that focus on formal aspects of planning systems, as they are defined by laws and regulations. The country fact sheets describe the responsibilities of each level of government with respect to spatial and land-use planning. They include a description of all spatial and land-use plans of a country and show their hierarchical relations in a diagram. For most countries, the fact sheets also contain key statistics on land use. A summary chapter provides an overview of the information in the country fact sheets and discusses land value capture tools, land expropriation procedures, reforms of the planning system, and other issues. The information provided in this report was collected through a survey that involved academic experts on planning from all 32 countries covered.

Land use has important consequences for the environment, public health, economic productivity, inequality and social segregation. Land use policies are often complex and require co-ordination across all levels of government as well as across policy sectors. Not surprisingly, land use decisions can be contentious and conflicts over land use are common across the OECD. This report argues that better land use governance requires the use of a broader set of public policies to influence land use. In particular, the incentives for particular land uses provided by fiscal instruments and tax policies need to be better aligned with land use objectives. The report furthermore analyses land use patterns across the OECD based on comprehensive land cover data. It shows that developed land is growing everywhere, but great variation exists between countries. Lastly, the report summarises insights from six in-depth case studies to show concrete examples of land use related challenges in OECD countries and the response of national, regional and local governments to them.