Territorial planning to combat inequality, Sedatu’s strategy in the country’s municipalities

The Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu) promoted and trained more than 3,000 officials to guarantee compliance with the Official Mexican Standards (NOM): NOM-001-SEDATU-2021, Public Spaces in Human Settlements; and NOM-002-SEDATU-2022, Equipment in the instruments that make up the General System of Territorial Planning.

Javier Garduño Arredondo, head of the Sedatu Planning and Development Unit, commented that an efficient strategy for planning allows the construction of territories of peace and well-being, so it is essential to accompany the municipalities in the application of official standards on the matter.

“The planning it is a tool to combat inequalities in the medium and long term. These regulations allow us to build a more prosperous, secure and equitable country, ”commented the official during his participation in the virtual dialogues of the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (Inafed).

According to the director of Urban Development and Housing of Sedatu, Melina Castro Urquiza, since NOM-002-SEDATU-2022 entered into force on October 22, 140 of the 2,446 municipalities of the country have registered to update their Municipal Urban Development Programs (PMDU).

What do Sedatu’s NOMs regulate?

Alejandra García Morales, from the Strategic Projects Unit for the Urban Development of the dependency, explained that the objective of the NOM-SEDATU-001-2021 is to generate certainty in the processes of territorial planning at the national levelas well as contributing to the development of more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable spaces.

On the other hand, NOM-002-SEDATU-2022 is a tool for urban planning which is available to all levels of government, which seeks to identify and differentiate between public and private facilities.

In this sense, the director of Urban Land of the agency, Nalleli Serviansky Rosario, remarked that said regulation is the second technical regulation issued by Sedatu and deals exclusively with the terminology, classification and hierarchization of the elements.

The regulation arose, according to Sedatu, after the increase in the participation of private initiative, to avoid inconsistencies and gaps in a fundamental system for the territorial and urban planning.

“In this way, donations and assignments required by law are prevented from being privatized, since, although there are differences between the public and private sectors, especially in financial logic, the similarity between the services provided is notable and in many cases are regulated by the same legislation”, detailed the Secretariat.