The plan put forward by the Panamanian government will define, in the cities of Panama and Colon, areas that can be used as development poles, and establish risk zones in which interventions are not allowed.
The Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (Miviot) presented the Urban Development Plan for the Metropolitan Areas of the Pacific and the Atlantic, and through a statement reported that "...
A proposal put forward by the Japanese Cooperation Agency includes the construction of four exclusive lanes for public transport in four of the capital's busiest areas.
The proposal is part ofthe territorial reorganization plan for Managua, which is being worked on jointly by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the Mayoral Office of Managua.
Tenders have been announced for the definition of the land ordinance plan for each of the four areas in which the territory is divided.
An article in Prensa.com reports that "... The Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Miviot) has divided the country into four zones to prepare the land ordinance plan for each of these .... and ... this year it will put out to tender four land ordinance plans, but as yet the amounts have not been defined.
Zoning changes and the creation of municipal planning boards responsible for preparing the urban development plans are part of the new law recently approved on land use.
From a statement issued by the National Assembly of Panama:
The full National Assembly approved on its third reading House Bill No. 12, which regulates land use planning for urban development, in which citizens, through public consultation, will have a linked stature in urban planning.
The National Development Plan of K'atun projects that in 2032 79% of the population will live in urban areas, and identifies the areas with the greatest potential for investment.
Currently 58% of Guatemala's population reside in urban areas, the National Institute of Statistics expects that in 2032 that percentage will rise to 79%, which allows a future map of national wealth to be charted.
The Government of Costa Rica is preparing a third plan for land ordnance in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM by its initials in Spanish).
This was announced by Guido Monge, Minister of Housing and Settlements (MIVAH)."It is called Plan GAM 2013, and will be built on the remains of its two predecessors: the Regional Urban Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Area (PRUGAM) and the Land Use Plan (POTGAM) (the latter introduced in January this year) which never, because of their designs, reached the approval stage, " noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.
The development of the Greater Metropolitan Area in Costa Rica has been halted awaiting a new proposal to combine the interests of over 50 offices and organizations.
Nacion.com reports that approval of the most recent proposal for a land use plan has stalled, "while the executive branch tries to reconcile the clash of interests between the various sectors involved in the matter."
Opposition to the expansion of the boundary for urban development in the greater metropolitan area is preventing the necessary renewal of the rules for land use.
Led by the Ministry of Housing, the Territorial Ordering Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Area created by the Institute of Housing and Urban Development, is in a period of consultation.
"The issue is controversial because it determines the type of use land may be given.
The German government will allocate about $27 million for regional health, violence prevention, energy and sustainable development projects.
The German ambassador in El Salvador, Christian Stocks, and the Secretary General of SICA, Juan Daniel German, formalized the implementation of four projects.
The first project, "Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development (OTDES)" corresponds to a request by the Heads of State and Government of SICA countries, expressed in the Declaration of Comalapa, last October, and aims to strengthen the capacity and performance of institutions responsible for land use planning in the region, with the aim of promoting regional and territorial development processes, allowing both the promotion of economic and social development such as an improvement in risk management and natural disasters.
The Housing Minister is to invite tenders to develop an land use plan for the whole country.
Panama's vice-minister for housing and land-use planning, Marta Riera de Álvarez, commented that real estate developers will be consulted with the aim of understanding their public service needs in order to carry out construction projects.
"The land-use planning project has begun with the coastal region of Los Santos where 35 new infrastructure projects have been completed. This scheme will be extended to the rest of the country," reports Prensa.com.
Starting today the accord regulating construction types and use of the ground in the Municipality of Guatemala will come into effect.
According to elperiodico.com.gt, "Accord 30-08, published in the Government daily on 30 December, has 135 articles and one chapter with the regulations establishing the requirements that establishments that are open to the public must meet, such as bars, churches, discotheques, or the sale of alcoholic drinks, etc."
Honduras has begun to regulate land use and ownership, beginning with planning at a municipal level.
The absence of any formal regulation was laid bare in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch caused thousands of deaths and huge economic damage.
The aim of regulation is to identify areas that are suitable for development in a wide range of industries, such as tourism and mining, as well as for housing, farming and fishing.