Sustainable development and urban planning regulations in the context of climate change management measures

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate recent and upcoming changes in urban planning legislation in the Republic of Lithuania, which acknowledge the necessity of introducing climate change management tools. Sustainable development is a core principle of the Spatial Planning Law of the Republic of Lithuania since 2014. Special attention to the management of climate change is given at the national and municipal levels, and recent legislative initiatives are proof of this. Methodologythis analysis is based on evaluating the main applicable documents and introduced amendments. The theoretical publications, statistical data, and judicial practice are also observed while interpreting the given normative rules. This paper specifically analyses the legal requirements enshrined in Lithuanian law that are intended to foster sustainable development. New amendments to manage climate change are also analysed. In addition, the solutions of the Vilnius Master Plan are presented, as they introduced the principle of sustainable development before it became a national rule, as well as climate change management measures. Findingsthe analysis reveals that national regulation only sets out the principles for spatial planners, and it is left to local governments to make final decisions on what exact measures may be introduced for the purpose of ensuring sustainable development and climate change management via spatial planning. This is a cause for concern and should lead to renewed calls for a coherent and ambitious approach to introduce the specific measures at the national levelat least in the bylaws to ensure consistent and unified application. Despite the vague wording employed by the regulations, the Vilnius Master Plan actively encourages the introduction of measures which could help in ensuring sustainable development and climate change management via spatial planning. Originality/valuethis article is the first to analyse the newly adopted principle of sustainable development in the light of climate change management via spatial planning regulations in the Republic of Lithuania. In addition, the present analysis contributes to worldwide studies on sustainable development and climate change measures by filling a gap from Lithuania's side, showing recent regulatory changes as a good practice to other jurisdictions.

Digital economy, environmental regulation and green eco-efficiency—Empirical evidence from 285 cities in China

“…Higher levels of government environmental governance can promote green total factor productivity in regional industries, but there is regional heterogeneity in the green eco-efficiency of environmental governance or environmental regulation (Wang and Sheng, 2015), while other scholars have examined the effect of environmental regulation on economic growth under environmental constraints. Klimas, E. (2020) analyzed the impact of spatial planning regulations on climate change management using the latest sustainable development principles in Lithuania and found that spatial planning regulations should provide for specific measures to effectively enhance climate management.An empirical study of the pilot policy's impact on civilized cities discovered that environmental regulation by the government can lower pollution levels and encourage the growth of green urban areas.…”