34. Planning and Management of Land Use

We commit to promoting a strategic, integrated, effective and efficient process of land use planning and management that ensures human development throughout national territory, in a peaceful environment. This process will be based on knowledge and research of the exceptional diversity of the territories and sustainability of its ecosystems; on intergovernmental and inter-sectorial coordination; on the promotion of public and private free initiative; on promotion of dialogue, civic participation and with prior consultation of indigenous peoples. For these effects, we understand territory as the space comprising of the soil, the subsoil, the maritime domain and the air space above, in which social, economic, political and cultural relations are developed between people and the natural environment, in a legal and institutional framework; in which interests, identities and cultures of the populations converge.

With this objective, the State will: (a) Ensure its action in all geographical areas under the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, in order to achieve comprehensive, equitable and sustainable human development, and the exercise of rights and equal opportunities throughout the country. (b) Reconcile economic growth and competitiveness with social equity and environmental sustainability, linking the various land uses according to their abilities, in a climate of social harmony, valuing cultural identity and diversity, promoting the formalization of economic activities and respecting democratic institutions and the rule of law. (c) Promote and consolidate sustainable cities as dynamic centers of urban and rural development, articulated by reason of their hierarchy and functional complementarity, that promote supplied economic corridors equipped with water energy, transport and communications systems, in order to facilitate innovation processes, value chains and investment opportunities in primary, manufacturing and service activities. (d) Generate a comprehensive territorial information system articulated by public entities and accessible to citizens, to converge in a global vision of the territory, its relationships, connectivity, functionality and dynamics that allow for adequate public and private decision-making. (e) Promote research applied to the territorial reality and the technological innovation aimed at resolving strategic problems and taking advantage of the potential for territorial development. (f) Adapt the implementation of health and education policies, as well as other pertinent policies, such as for the training of the local population, to promote the rational, diverse and productive use of territorial resources, strengthening decentralized development. (g) Reduce the vulnerability of the population to the risks of disasters through the identification of urban and rural areas of risk, the supervision and implementation of prevention plans. (h) Strengthen the capabilities of land management at the different levels of government, such as in cases of integrated land management that allow the establishment of controls, incentives and other mechanisms to help prevent, reduce, adapt or reverse the negative effects of climate change and remedy or compensate for, where appropriate, the adverse effects on ecosystems arising from occupation and land use. (i) Regulate and promote a planned process of territorial systemization that is multi-scale, inter-sectoral, intergovernmental and participatory, as a tool for integrated territorial management. (j) Establish a national system of territorial management which permits a harmonization between the technical and regulatory instruments so as to coordinate national and sectoral policies and regional and local plans of concerted development and land use planning which contribute to implementing national priorities in order to achieve the articulation between the three levels of government and the participation of representative institutions of civil society. (k) Consolidate a political-administrative division based on the formation of regions, and finalize the demarcation of districts and provinces. (l) Develop border zones, integrating them into the socio-economic dynamics of the country as well as neighboring countries. (m) Promote the creation and implementation of fiscal and financial instruments to stimulate good practices in territorial management and to ensure proper formulation and implementation of land use plans to guide public and private investment and social policies.