URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

Definition of EMP

      An Urban Environmental Management Plan (EMP) has been defined as a strategic document that sets out the short, medium and longer term environmental objectives and policies for an urban area. It defines a clear vision and the overall strategy and action plan to achieve quantified objectives and targets, as well as timetables, which are necessary to guide and steer daily management decisions.

 The overall objective of an urban EMP, which goes beyond implementing existing environmental legislation, should be to establish a continual, measurable improvement in the urban area’s environmental performance, achieve a concrete positive impact on quality of life in cities, and lead to a reduction of the ecological footprints of cities on their surroundings and the regional and global environment.

 
The EMP should support a more comprehensive or holistic urban policy (public and private), so tackling contradictions due to the compartmentalisation of sectoral policies. It could be the platform for the necessary dialog between the environmental department, economic department, department for physical planning and land development, etc.

 Coherent and coordinated management will not only address potential conflicts, but also highlight opportunities for synergy between policy sectors, in pursuit of sustainability. It is of vital importance that the EMP is grounded in the political system and that the politicians have ownership to the EMP and feels it is a valid instrument in setting priorities and achieves goals for the local community.

 The issue of policy integration goes beyond public administration to include the public, investors, developers and other actors. Planning processes should therefore include special arrangements to bring government departments into partnership with other actors. The EMP should be seen as a useful instrument in communicating with the public the goals and visions of the municipal council.[1]

1.             European Commission, D.E., Urban Environmental Management Plans,Benefits for Local Authorities. 2007, NS, CMW.