Technical Assistance For The Implementation Of New Urban Agenda At Local Level In Cuba (Nuac)

For the implementation of the Technical Assistance to accompany the Government of Cuba in the implementation of the NUA that was carried out in Cuba in the period 2017-2018, the first step for the localization of the NUA has been to analyse the current situation of the National Urban Policy of the country.

The analysis on the territorial and urban context was conducted and its result has been an approximation to the current situation of urban planning and territory management in Cuba, but above all, it includes an analysis on the trends and tendencies on which the implementation of the NUA should be focused and which will be relevant in the coming years.

Below are the main findings of the analysis performed:

·        Cuba has a high level of human development despite having a low per capita income.

·        The national population will begin to decrease from 2025 if trends continue.

·        Cuba shows a high level of urbanization.

·        The average population density in urban areas is around 4,500 inhabitants/km2.

·        The population is distributed in a balanced way in a planned settlement system.

·        The institutional structure of urban planning is vertical, although a decentralization process started.

·        Urban planning is characterized by a well-defined order of instruments, but with difficulties in putting them into practice.

·        Land ownership is public.

·        The concept of buildability is little used.

·        Cities have not been perceived as engines of the economy.

·        Tourism will grow in the coming years, with a high potential for transforming territories and settlements.

·        Local financing depends to a large extent on the State and the mechanisms for the

urbanization generate resources are incipient.

·        The State is rethinking its housing objectives given the lack of resources and the increase in demand.

·        The basic infrastructure network reaches almost the entire population, although its maintenance presents challenges.

·        The characteristics of the urban displacements of the population reflect deficiencies in the mobility system.

·        Research on climate change, as well as studies of hazards, vulnerabilities and risks, constitute a strength for the challenges that the country faces in its human settlements.

·        An energy model dependent on oil, but with expectations of diversification.

·        Energy consumption is low, but CO2 emissions are high.

·        Cuba has generated important knowledge in environmental matters, but its implementation has been limited by its economic situation.

 

The technical assistance described in this document for the elaboration of a portfolio of projects for implementing NUAC at local level in 14 municipalities through the identification of urban projects files, which are to be executed from 1% for territorial and local development, is an urgent need of local governments in the country and will focus precisely on the following aspects:

1.      Cuba shows high level of urbanization. The current urban population is 77.8%, which has remained stable for years. The percentage of urban population is similar to the average of Latin America and the most developed countries. Urban land occupies approximately 1.16% of the country's surface, with a tendency to increase slowly due to the policy of city compaction and protection of land resources.

2.      The institutional structure of urban planning is vertical, although a decentralization process started. The Institute of Physical Planning (IPF) directs the territorial and urban policy. The fact of being directly subordinated to the Council of Ministers, the highest decision-making body in the country, suggests the importance given to territorial issues. The provincial and municipal governments are in charge of the territorial and urban planning of these instances, although the decision-making capacity and the allocation of resources is still centralized in a high percentage given to the economic circumstances of the country and the necessary lookup for territorial equilibrium and equality of living conditions for the population.

 

 

Instances

Plan

Municipal Assembly or its Board of Directors

·        General plan of the head municipality. General, partial and special plans of the other urban settlements, as well as the studies of location and details.

Provincial Administration Council

·        General Plan of the head main city of the province.

·        Other partial, special urban plans, as well as the studies of localization and details of provincial impacts.

Council of Ministers

·        Plan for the capital of the country and eventually another city prioritized by the State for its national impact.

3.      Urban planning is characterized by a well-defined order of instruments, but with difficulties in putting them into practice. Planning is characterized by a hierarchy of instruments that act at different scales, although the State level reserves the capacity to approve the most important things, leaving the rest for the provinces and limiting the possibility of the municipalities to approve their own instruments. However, the physical planning system must coexist with other sectoral instruments of intervention in the territory with which there should be maximum coordination. In general, the planning system finds difficulties in realizing the plan in physical reality due to the lack of sufficient resources and the complex circumstances in which the planning processes take place. The improvement of participation in planning development processes is an area of ??opportunity, and systematically the planning instruments adapt to the new model of economic and social development that the country has approved, and this model includes the policies that are transforming urban dynamics.

Planning Instruments

Activities and Specific Areas

Nacional

General national scheme of territory management

National guiding Instrument, general scope

Special schemes of national territory management.

Productive and unproductive activities.

Hydrographic basins, mountain ranges, coastal territories, tourist regions, areas with special regulations, technical infrastructures, ones that go beyond the provincial framework and others by state decision.

Provincial

General provincial plans and schemes of territory management

Provincial guiding instrument, general scope

Special provincial plans and schemes of territory management

Planning of territorial infrastructures

 

Partial provincial plans and schemes of territory management

Planning of integrated territories of the province

Municipal and urban

General plan of municipal territory management

Guiding instrument of general scope

Partial plan of municipal territory management

Planning of integrated zones of the municipality

Special plan of municipal territory management

Planning of municipal infrastructures

General urbanization plans of each city and settlement.

Guiding instrument of general scope

Partial urbanization plans of each city and settlement.

Planning of integrated urban zones of the city

Special urbanization plans of each city and settlement.

Planning of system and infrastructures of the city, including the mobility

Studies of localization and details at territorial, rural and urban scale

Designing of areas and complexes; micro-localization of the investments

4.      Local financing depends to a large extent on the State and the mechanisms for the urbanization generate resources are incipient. Although the existence of two currencies (with different exchange rates) makes the calculation complicated, data from ONEI indicate that share (%) of exports of professional services[1] and tourism on the Cuban economy is 57% and 21% of total exports respectively. More than 60% of the financing of urban development -investments in housing and services, infrastructure and productive facilities- is made through the investment of the ministries of related sectors. Local financing depends to a large extent on national budget, although more decentralized fiscal systems are being introduced that seek greater financial autonomy of municipalities and provinces, which are still insufficient and are in the testing phase. Neither the municipalities nor the central administration have mechanisms to capture and share the value generated by urbanization, even though there is already an embryonic housing market that benefits from public investments in infrastructure and urban improvements. However, there is the case of the Office of the Historian of Havana, which has had exceptional powers granted by the government to obtain incomes from the development of tourism and commercial activities to invest it in urban regeneration, constituting a precedent of how it can be generated, captured and share the value. This process has been accompanied by international donors that have allowed the improvement of the world heritage in danger, but in turn that Office has extended the use of its profits to other areas of the city which were also in a great need for rehabilitation and conservation, as experience of a high value for the city.

      Proportion of the total expenses in execution of the budget. Source: Statistics Yearbook 2015, ONEI.

The Project is aligned with the following priorities:

Local Priorities

• Municipal development plans of the 14 municipalities
• Municipal plans of territorial management and urban development of the 14 municipalities

National Priorities

·        Programmatic update of the Cuban Economic and Social Model through three documents approved in 2017:

o   The conceptualization of the Cuban Social and Economic Development Model

o   The Bases of the National Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030: Vision of the Nation, Axes and Strategic Sectors

o   The Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution for the period 2016-2021

• The National Action Plan (NAP) of Cuba for the implementation of the NUA, (2018)
• Habitat Country Programme Document with Cuba 2014-2018
• United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2014-2018 (UNDAF)

Regional Priorities

• Declaration of Santo Domingo in 2016, Federation of Latin American Cities, Municipalities and Associations (FLACMA)
• The Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016-2036
• Sub-regional Action Plan for the implementation of the NUA in the Caribbean, 2016-2036
• Regional Strategic Plan of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of UN-Habitat
• Declaration of Buenos Aires of the XXVI General Assembly of Ministers and Maximum Authorities of Housing and Urban Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI)
• Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals in Mesoamerica and the Post-2015 Agenda

Global Priorities

• Paris Agreement
• New Urban Agenda
• Quito Declaration and Thematic and regional declarations of the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development-HABITAT III
• Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, with the special emphasis on Objective 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
• The Secretary-General's five-year action agenda, in particular regarding accelerating progress in the achievement of the objectives of Sustainable Development, focusing on inequalities and generating opportunities for women and young people.

[1] Health, education, and others.