The Official Mexican Standard NOM-005-SEDATU-2024, issued by the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU), establishes the guidelines, criteria, and technical specifications necessary for the development of municipal land-use and urban development plans or programs in Mexico. This standard addresses the need to standardize and strengthen territorial planning in a country where, out of the 2,471 existing municipalities, only 567 have a formal land-use and/or urban development plan.
1. Context and Justification.-
The rapid growth of cities in Mexico has created an urgent demand for planning instruments that can guide sustainable and orderly urban development. However, the lack of unified criteria for the development of these plans at the municipal level has resulted in fragmentation and disorganization in the application of land-use policies.
NOM-005-SEDATU-2024 emerges as a response to this issue, establishing a regulatory framework to ensure that municipal land-use and urban development plans follow a homogeneous and technically sound scheme. This effort is part of a series of actions by SEDATU to improve territorial and urban planning in the country, aiming to align regulations with local needs and international standards.
2. Main Objectives of the Standard.-
- **Content Standardization**: The goal is to standardize the content, methodologies, and graphical expressions used in municipal plans, ensuring consistency and quality throughout the country.
- **Integrated Approach**: Plans must address territorial and urban development in an integrated manner, considering environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects.
- **Long-Term Vision**: The standard promotes planning that not only meets immediate needs but also considers future growth and development, ensuring sustainability.
3. Classification of Municipalities.-
The Standard classifies municipalities based on their capacity and need to have a land-use plan, using two models: i) Capacity Model and ii) Need Model. Based on these models, municipalities are categorized into three levels: low, medium, and high. This classification determines the specific requirements that each municipality must meet in the development of its plan, ensuring that the content is proportional to its context and capacity.
- **Capacity Model**: Evaluates the technical, administrative, and economic capacities of municipalities to develop and implement a land-use plan.
- **Need Model**: Considers the socioeconomic, environmental, and vulnerability characteristics of municipalities to identify those that most urgently require a land-use plan.
4. Mandatory Content of Municipal Plans.-
NOM-005-SEDATU-2024 establishes that municipal plans must include certain essential content, divided into two main groups: i) Generic Content and ii) Contextual Content.
**Generic Content**: These are the basic elements that every plan must include, such as:
- **Social Participation**: Mechanisms to involve the community in the formulation and updating of the plans.
- **Land-Use Planning Committee**: A structure responsible for supervising and coordinating the development and implementation of the plan.
- **Integrated Territorial Diagnosis**: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the territory, considering physical, social, economic, and environmental aspects.
- **Justification and Motivation**: Legal and planning justification that supports the need and relevance of the plan.
**Contextual Content**: These are adapted to the specific characteristics of each municipality and expanded according to the level of requirement:
- **Border, Metropolitan, Coastal, Indigenous, or Afro-Mexican Municipalities**: Include specific analyses and strategies to address the particularities of these territories, such as migration, vulnerability to natural disasters, cultural heritage preservation, among others.
5. Technical and Specific Aspects.-
The Standard also addresses the importance of incorporating a Socio-Ecological System of the Territory (ESSET) approach, which allows for an integrated analysis of the territory, considering the interactions between environmental, social, economic, cultural, and governance subsystems. This approach ensures that municipal plans not only consider urban development from an economic perspective but also integrate environmental conservation and social well-being.
6. Application and Compliance.-
NOM-005-SEDATU-2024 is mandatory throughout the national territory, meaning that all municipalities and mayors' offices must apply the criteria and content established in their respective land-use and urban development plans and programs. The standard includes conformity assessment and monitoring procedures to ensure compliance.
The Standard will take effect 180 calendar days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), which occurred on July 9, 2024.
7. Consistency with International Standards.-
Finally, the document highlights the importance of harmonizing this standard with international standards and other national regulations, such as the Official Mexican Standards on environmental issues, infrastructure, and risk management.
8. Expected Impact.-
The implementation of this Standard is expected to lead to more coherent and efficient urban and territorial planning, responding to the current and future needs of Mexican municipalities, promoting more orderly, equitable, and sustainable development.