Legal aspects

The input of legal aspects into the urban development and planning process is both a matter of politics, technicalities, and stakeholders. Through its profound implication for urban development, principles of law define the systems of urban government, establish the system of urban planning and regulation of land development, and delimit the powers of the urban planners as well as managers in order to regulate the use and exclude abuse of urban environment.

Description
Legal aspects in the context of this page include both restrictions enforced by law and by regulation. These restrictions cover a wide variety of aspects, as shown in the table below. However, there is little legal consideration currently given to security aspects, apart from natural disaster and regional emergency management plans, which relate more to the hierarchy of authority in such instances, etc.

The legal aspects vary between countries and the overview given on this page can therefore only be generic. Some aspects may not apply to your location or be embedded in different structures. Also, law and regulations can be subject to change.

Summary table of legal aspects in urban planning
The following table summarises legal principles that constrains or guides the process of urban planning:

Security-related aspects

 * The challenge in addressing security aspects is that that it is often difficult to assess, and integrate urban law with other relevant codes and approaches, such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). ECHR and its case law sets the framework, extent and limitation of a number of human rights relevant to security such as right to liberty and security, right to respect for life and family life, freedom of expression, etc. Those rights and their preservation may be aspects to consider in planning urban infrastructure and implementing security-related concepts such as “designing out”.


 * The legal framework provides compulsory acts (both primary and secondary legislation) for safety in urban planning, but it lacks (compulsory) guidelines for security. Those guidelines would, among other things, have to identify limitations for taking security measures, for example due to preceding norms of individual liberty. While in the security debate the establishment and development of legal frameworks around data protection has been a hot topic of discussion and efforts, the legal framing of surveillance aspects might be of greater concern in urban planning and planning of built structures. The legal distinction of facilitating surveillance structures to enhance and ensure public security without violation of individual liberty and the human rights will evoke further controversies and is expected to gain more attention also in planning issues.


 * Another challenge is that the input of legal aspects into the urban development and planning process is not uniform:


 * "Principles of law" establish the context for urban planning and regulation of land development. Basic legal and political frameworks determine conditions under which urban management should be organised, urban reforms can proceed, and urban development processes are guided. These principles could and should be expanded by the social right to security as well as the functioning and maintenance of the vital societal functions as fundamental principles.


 * Planning laws limit an owner’s rights in private property in order to secure benefits for the community as a whole. These benefits include: safety and personal health; convenience, amenities, and agreeable environments for the public; acceptable standards of private and public living as well as work places; and reasonable burdens of public expenditures that have to be incurred when land is developed.