The document discusses the work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in promoting sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. It outlines UNECE's focus on housing, land management, and urban planning policies. Specifically, it emphasizes using spatial planning and data integration to build more resilient communities and support decision making. The document proposes a future policy study on urban planning to disseminate best practices across the UNECE region.

1. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The Interplay between Land
Management and DRR/CCA
information for policy making
A perspective from the UNECE region
Michele Melchiorri May 26, 2015

2. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
About UNECE
56 member States in Europe, Central Asia and
North America
One of the five ECOSOC Regional Commissions
Intergovernmental platform for policy dialogue
and best practices dissemination
Regional thematic studies

3. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
About UNECE and DRR
UNECE Works to ensure economic progress go hand in hand
with a better Disaster Risk Management
• Housing and Land Management policies for resilient
communities
• Standards and Regulatory Frameworks for DRR (WP6)
• Environmental assessments help prevent disasters (SEA
Protocol & Espoo Convention)
• Preserving human rights in disaster situations (Aarhus
Convention)
• Ninety per cent of disasters are water-related (Water
Convention)
• Industrial accidents cross borders (Industrial Accident
Convention)
• Measurement of extreme events and disasters (Statistical
division)
• Forests’ key protecting functions (UNECE-FAO Forests
division)

4. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
UNECE HLM Areas of Work
Projects
DRS(s)
SCC(s)
EE(s)
WIDESPREAD

5. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Housing Strategy and Charter
To improve the resilience of buildings to natural and human-
generated disasters
To balance the competing demand for and limited supply of
available land, minimize the loss of rural land and increase the
efficient use of urban land
Mandate for: Housing disaster preparedness & Resilient
planning
To Limit the negative impact of housing on the environment
To Improve the resilience of buildings to natural and human-
generated hazards through safety planning, design and
construction
To Intensify the regional and international exchange of
experience and cooperation in, urban planning and land
management

6. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Housing Assets and Lives at Risk
100 MILLION PEOPLE
in the UNECE region
spend more than
40%
of their disposable income on
HOUSING
UNISDR

7. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Housing and Land Management and Urban Planning
The Committee promotes sustainable cities
with an integrated approach to planning
Compact - Efficient - Inclusive - Low-Carbon -
Disaster resilient Cities
Spatial Planning is key
Influences spatial distribution of activities
Defines the territorial organization of land uses
Balance the demand for development and
environmental management
Helps achieving economic and social objectives
acting on their spatial dimension
Planning
• The process of setting goals, developing strategies, outlining the
implementation arrangements and allocating resources to achieve
those goals (UNDP)
Institutional
awareness
• Integration of climate change adaptation and mitigation
measures in existing planning processes
• Use of contemporary technology to build risk awareness and
information
Resilient
urban planning
• Development of plans specifically for climate change adaptation
and mitigation
• Integrate hazard-exposure-vulnerability information in decision
making and land policy

8. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
UNECE and Spatial Planning
Spatial Planning Key Instrument for Development and
Effective Governance, UNECE 2008
Providing guidance to improve spatial planning systems in the
UNECE Region, especially in Countries in transition considering:
• Principles of spatial planning (6 principles)
• Roles and responsibilities (allocation of competences)
• Components of spatial planning systems (tools, directives,
enforcement, spatial strategies and environmental
assessment
• Recommendations for stronger and more effective systems
(encouraging debate, legal frameworks, guidance and
guidelines for spatial planning)
TRANSFERABILITY
OF POLICIES

9. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Transferability of Policies
Components for Exchange Transferability
Ideas
Principles of policy/action
Methods
Techniques
Know-how
Operating rules
Programmes
Institutions
Modes of organization
Practitioners
Joint projects
Low
To what extent are... policy instruments, which have proved to be
successful in one urban area, transferable to another, given
that the latter has a different historical, cultural or political
background, or is in another phase of economic development?
Are there best practices which are convertible like currencies?
If not, how and to what extent must one take account of specific
circumstances? ”
Güller, 1996
“People got to discover how sustainable development concepts
can be implemented in reality. But you often heard them say, OK,
this is marvelous, but it’s not for us, or it’s not for us right now. It’s
a dream, it’s another world... we have nothing in common. ”
Pojani & Stead, 2015
High

10. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Transferability of Policies
Lack of coordination
Lack of leadership and political support
Limited monitoring and evaluation policies
Scientific complexity and uncertainty
Economic costs and benefits of climate change policy
UNFCCC

11. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Importance of Technology for Innovative Policies
UNECE Housing and Land Management is not a
Geospatial information provider however
supports the use of mapping as tools to
improve:
• Communication and awareness raising tool
• Evidences for policy formulation
• Support to decision making
• Spatialization of findings and
recommendations
• Monitoring of progress
UNECE HLM started a cooperation with JRC,
GEO and GIS, Modeling and Remote Sensing
Experts
INFORMED
DECISION MAKING
JRC IPSC

12. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Building Resilient Communities trough Urban Planning and the
Integration of Natural Sciences
Supporting hazard and risk data integration into policymaking
for inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human
settlements
50+ Participants including ECE Governments’ and national
Agencies’ delegates, IOs, Academia and private sector
TYPE OF HAZARD AND VULNERABILITY
DATA
Aggregate risk index
(decision makers)
Disaggregate risk index
(urban planners)
Digital data format
(dynamic and interoperable)
Uncertain
time-frame

13. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe..
Urban Planning and Science Integration in Decision Making
Need to implement Multi-Hazard risk assessment in
the urban planning process
Technical gaps
• fragmentation of information (single hazards)
• lack of multi-scale and multi-temporal analysis
Institutional/governance gaps
• difficulties to include hazard analysis in land
planning
• lack of multi-risk governance and coordination
among authorities
Technological approach supports the
integration and demonstration of findings

14. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Proposal for UNECE Study on Urban Planning
The 75th CHS endorsed the proposal for a Policy Study
on Urban Planning
Implements objectives of the CHLM Strategy 2014-2020
supporting the development of national strategic
directions in urban planning
Promotes the dissemination of best practices to support
the regional implementation and adaptation of
international urban planning guidance documents
Will be a collaborative product with the involvement of
stakeholders including partner Organizations

15. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
7 Policy areas
• social and affordable housing
• access of basic services
• urban technical infrastructures and facilities
Affordable Housing, Fundamental Services
and Informal Settlements
• are accessible, clean, environmental friendly transport systems
• Multi-modal systems, BRTs
Sustainable Accessible and Inclusive
Mobility and Transport
• reduce deaths, number of affected people and economic losses
• climate change and human-generated related disasterSafe and Resilient Settlements
• environmental performance of human settlements, infrastructure and the built environments
• carbon emissions, air quality, comfort
Spatial Dimensions of Sustainability,
Compactness, Climate Responsive Design
and Energy Efficiency
• design principles
• Policy of public spaces and places
Healthy, Livable, Vital and Inclusive Public
Spaces
• strengthening and support a more inclusive national and regional planning
• challenges regarding the economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas
Between Rural and Urban, the Links for
Better Regional Policies
• cooperation mechanisms to foster financial and technical assistance between ECE member states
• Effective and empowered formal governance structures for metropolitan regionCity Governance and Regional Cooperation

16. © Copyright 2015 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Thank you
Michele Melchiorri
Housing and Land Management Unit
Forests, Housing and Land Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Michele.melchiorri@unece.org