Latin American Forum on Notable Instruments of Urban Intervention

The Latin American and Caribbean Program of the Lincoln Institute of Soil Policies announces this important forum, to be held in Quito, Ecuador. 5 to 10 May 2013.

Organized in conjunction with the State Bank of the Republic of Ecuador, it aims to disseminate, share and evaluate a set of notable urban intervention instruments developed and effectively implemented in Latin American cities. It is a set of 20 instruments, some of them little known and selected under the criteria of relevance to influence critical issues, the existence of a specific evaluation, and the potential for replication in other jurisdictions in the region.

The original motivation for this initiative is the verification of the existence (and effective implementation) of instruments that affect critical problems in the urban public agenda in the region. More importantly, some of these instruments are not always known to urban planners (or decision makers in general), such as, for example, the Additional Construction Potential Certificates (CEPAC), effectively used in São Paulo. Other equally notable instruments, although they are better known, are 4 perhaps inadvertently little considered, either due to prejudices or poor information on the specific conditions of their implementation, as well illustrated by the contribution of improvements.

Legal, fiscal and administrative instruments will be analyzed, which affect regularization and titling of land, development rights, social interest zoning, property management, the use of geographic information systems, neighborhood improvement, private action on urban development, public land acquisition, property taxation, and the sustainability of changes in land use, among others.

The Forum combines lectures with keynote presentations on the instruments, followed by mini-courses offered simultaneously, so that interested participants have the opportunity to deepen the theoretical and operational aspects of each instrument. Both lectures and mini-courses will be taught by Latin American experts with recognized experience in the proposed urban intervention instruments.

The activity is addressed to authorities, officials and technicians of Latin American local, regional and national governments involved in the formulation and implementation of intervention instruments and management of soil policies, as well as university academics and technicians from non- governmental, with interest and experience in the contents of the forum.

Among the topics to be discussed are:

• The contribution of improvements
• Acquisition of land by fiscal and regulatory means
• Recovery of capital gains for building rights
• Urban social integration
• Public recognition of tenure rights
• Preventive actions against informality
• Provision of land for social housing5
• Interventions by private agents
• Real Estate Tax Alternatives
• Expropriations to make social housing feasible
• Urban redevelopment

Online applications will be open between the January 25 and February 18 and must be done in two parts. The first part is done from the course page:

• Posting Forum 1 Part

and the second on a separate link:

• Posting Forum 2 Part

It is required to complete both forms regardless of whether you wish to participate in only the conferences or whether in the lectures and mini-courses.

For more information, contact:

Forum Actions:
Catalina Molinatti
cmolinatti@yahoo.com.ar

Application process:
Laura Mullahy
lmullahy@gmail.com