Experience of practices of urban territorial Planning of Belarus

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is one of the most significant global trends in an increasingly interconnected world. This means a new global approach to assessing the role of cities in the economy, climate change, use and consumption of natural resources as well as their contribution to social and innovative development. Globalization and large-scale urbanization, combined with smart technologies, are rapidly changing the world around us, the structure of economic activity and the way people live. After the publication in 1987 the report “Our Common Future” by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, the conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and other international initiatives by 2008 declarations, framework directives, strategies and methodologies for sustainable development and the creation of “green” economy were adopted. Taking into account the historically high level of urbanization in our country (70.08% of the population lives in cities) [1], in recent years, legislative instruments of the local (city) level, aimed at using the tools of integrated territorial planning, have begun to form. The article describes the experience of urban territorial planning practices in Novogrudok, Polotsk, Novopolotsk and Brest for which local strategic documents of a new type have now been developed: “Green Urban Development Plans” and the Concept of Smart Sustainable Development.

Keywords

• sustainable development
• urban planning
• strategic planning
• urban settlements
• republic of belarus