BACKGROUND
- Recently unplanned development and rapid urban growth is a major issue in a number of developing countries, particularly in Asia. They are recognizing needs for spatial planning (e.g., national master plan) and requesting JAPAN for support and guidance.
- At the HABITAT III (Oct 2016, Quito), Japan presented the importance of establishing a platform to support Spatial Planning including urban, rural, regional planning, which caught a great attention and interest from various countries. Recent unplanned development and rapid urban growth is a major issue in a number of developing countries, particularly in Asia. To address these issues, the Spatial Planning Platform (SPP) was established by Ministry of Land, infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLIT) of Japan and UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. SPP works as a network of stakeholders to achieve the formulation and implementation of more effective spatial plans.
- In light of these backgrounds, The Spatial Planning Platform (SPP) was established by the Government of Japan and UN-Habitat's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in 2018 as a network of stakeholders aiming to achieve the formulation and implementation of more effective spatial plans.
- This event was held as a (spin-off of) the SPP meeting, and participants engaged in lively discussions based on the good practices by member countries and organisations. Specifically, we reported and discussed the following points: First, we shared the outcomes of previous SPP meetings. As noted in the New Urban Agenda, population, economic activities, social and cultural interactions, as well as environmental and humanitarian impacts are increasingly concentrated in cities, posing massive sustainability challenges in terms of housing, infrastructure, basic services, food security, health, education, decent jobs, security and natural resources, among others. The second was to inform participants about the importance of regional (local) development policies. One of the concluded solutions to the challenges of big cities was to increase regional strength and the development of the country as a whole.
*The Spatial Planning Platform (SPP) Meeting Homepage https://spp-pr.com/
OBJECTIVES
The knowledge gained from previous conferences on the dispersal of population and industry from cities and the revitalization of rural areas was shared with participants.
This will contribute to solving urban problems faced by countries around the world, such as traffic congestion, pollution, environmental degradation and climate change. In addition, as a spin-off event of the SPP meetings, which have brought together government officials and academics from around the world, particularly in Asia and Africa, this event will build international and multilateral partnerships that transcend actors and scales. To date, six meetings have been held in cooperation with government officials and academics from around the world, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Africa regions. At least 900 people have participated throughout the six meetings held so far. The steadily expanding network will be further expanded through the WUF.
It has been discussed in previous SPP meetings that local and regional cooperations are essential in order to maximize the benefits of the National Spatial Plan. Therefore, this event is in line with Dialogue 3 “Stronger Together”, which emphasize the partnerships of all types, across levels and sectors.