Limiting factors of land use planning practices. An analysis from the perspective of municipal stakeholders in Paraguay
Main Article Content
Abstract
Over the last decade, Paraguay’s municipalities have implemented various land-use planning initiatives aimed at resolving the growing territorial and environmental problems caused by changes in land use, the advance of new activities and uncontrolled urban growth. This research, which was based on an exhaustive survey of municipal officials and technicians in more than 100 municipalities, made it possible to observe the types of land-use planning practices and the factors that inhibit or limit their effectiveness. The main factors cited were the lack of municipal budgets, the lack of national and departmental land-use planning policies to provide coverage and support for local initiatives, the lack of quality tools and information for technical processes, a significant shortage of qualified technical personnel in land-use planning, and many difficulties in building consensus at the local level, i.e. problems of governance of the planning process.