sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

240
In addition to that challenge, environmental management problems arise from the fact that,
unfortunately, territories that are connected physically by catchment areas or ecosystems rarely
coincide with political or administrative divisions. Development strategies should therefore incorporate
a territorial focus to ensure that policies are designed and executed to consider the alignment and
interrelation of the different components of each territory, for example, cities and rural areas. By
applying a territorial focus, public action can be coordinated among different authorities, sectoral areas
and administrative levels (see box VI.1).
Box VI.1
BUILDING TECHNICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY FOR THE TERRITORIAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOGOTA-CUNDINAMARCA REGION
The region encompassing the Capital District of Bogota and the Department of Cundinamarca (with
116 municipalities), which has a population of nearly 9 million and accounts for one third of Colombia’s GDP, is
highly interdependent in terms of water, energy, food supplies and services. For example, 100% of the water
supply for Bogota comes from reservoirs in Cundinamarca, and at least 10 municipalities in the Colombian
savannah would have no drinking water if it were not for Bogota’s water treatment plants. Some 65% of the food
consumed by residents of Bogota comes from Cundinamarca, and Bogota is the main buyer of that department’s
output. Two-way migration is also sharply on the rise. The region faces serious threats to human security and
safety and to the environmental integrity of its land resources due to high levels of poverty, violence and crime. It
also suffers from sharp disparities between different socioeconomic groups in terms of income levels, access to
land and property rights, along with unequal access to employment and basic social services. The various
provinces, municipalities and rural and urban sectors also differ in terms of the <strong>development</strong> of infrastructure,
income levels and institutional capacity.
The Capital District, the Department of Cundinamarca and its various municipalities are administratively
autonomous districts, however, and lack the necessary institutional structures to deal with inter-jurisdictional
issues. In response to this situation, the Bogota-Cundinamarca Regional Planning Board was created under an
agreement entered into by the Mayor of Bogota, the Departmental Government of Cundinamarca and the
Autonomous Environmental Corporation of Cundinamarca (CAR). This body provides expertise and an interagency
forum for participatory consensus-building that seeks to strengthen the capacities of the stakeholders that
take part in territorial <strong>development</strong> efforts on a day-to-day basis. The Board has arrived at a shared vision of the
area’s land management model over a <strong>20</strong>-year time horizon. Based on assessments of the safety and security
situation in 116 municipalities and in Bogota, work has begun on a plan to harmonize the land management plans
of Bogota and 25 nearby municipalities, and agreement has been reached as to which aspects of those plans
should be dealt with on a joint, region-wide basis. Principles, guidelines and policy tools have been agreed upon
at the political level and have been outlined in a charter for the capital region. This charter includes seven
overarching principles: the region’s common heritage; equitable <strong>development</strong>; coordinated, consensus-based,
participatory <strong>development</strong>; <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>; security for people and for land; lasting economic
<strong>development</strong>; and strategic <strong>development</strong>.
Source: United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)/Mesa de Planificación Regional Bogotá – Cundinamarca,
“De las ciudades a las regiones: Desarrollo regional integrado en Bogotá Cundinamarca”, December <strong>20</strong>05; UNCRD,
Seguridad humana y desarrollo regional en Bogotá y Cundinamarca, <strong>20</strong>10; and UNCRD/International Urban
Development Association (INTA), “Panel Internacional para el Fortalecimiento de la Dimensión Regional, Fiscal y
Tributaria en el Ordenamiento Territorial de la Región Capital Bogotá-Cundinamarca, Informe final (working paper)”,
September <strong>20</strong>10 [online] http://es.scribd.com/doc/38701537/Reporte-Panel-Region-Capital-UNCRD-InTA.