Aracaju's Master Plan will only be ready in 2014, warns city hall.
According to the Aracaju City Hall's communications department, recognizing the importance of a city guided by effective norms and guidelines, the current administration is conducting a new analysis of the Master Plan – an essential instrument for urban planning and development; the expectation is that the Master Plan proposals will be discussed again at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014, after the completion of the Urban Mobility Plan.
City Newspaper - After several public hearings, the draft revision of Aracaju's Master Plan was approved in first and second readings in the City Council, but was returned to the City Hall at the beginning of the year. Now, according to the municipal administration, the expectation is that the Master Plan proposals will be discussed again at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014, after the completion of the Urban Mobility Plan.
According to the Aracaju City Hall's communications department, recognizing the importance of a city guided by effective norms and guidelines, the current administration is conducting a new analysis of the Master Plan – an essential instrument for urban planning and development. This plan allows for a clear understanding of both the physical and social realities, enabling the orderly growth of a location. The Master Plan is based on the City Statute, which ensures a better and fairer municipality.
However, in effect since 2000, based on an analysis conducted in 1995, the Master Plan needs technical support and modifications in order to truly guarantee a satisfactory and beneficial final result for the residents of Aracaju regarding local infrastructure. According to the City Hall, it is not possible to alter any section of the Plan without reorganizing the whole or affecting its homogeneity, considering that the projected growth of the city indicated in a Master Plan is for 20 years.
Therefore, the Municipal Planning Department has been working to find a technical basis, aware of the responsibility of creating a project of this magnitude, and this is directly linked to two other plans: environmental sanitation and urban mobility.
PLANS
The Environmental Sanitation Plan, spearheaded by the Federal University of Sergipe through an agreement with the Secretariat of the Environment, consists of a study of sewage, water, waste, and drainage. The Urban Mobility Plan, developed by the firm Jaime Lerner Arquitetos Associados, has specifically studied the Expansion Zone, addressing issues such as the road system and areas of higher or lower population density.
From this, the Planning Secretariat works in an integrated manner, holding meetings to update itself on new data, cross-reference information, discuss aspects and solutions to specific problems. The concept of development cannot be separated from the concept of planning. That is, one must consider all aspects and consequences, such as the environment, verify and present solutions.
A city like Aracaju, for example, whose history largely stems from its mangrove area, requires certain precautions in land use, explains the Aracaju City Hall's communications office. It is with all these points in mind that the Municipal Executive Branch is cautiously and diligently developing the Master Plan, aware of the essential participation of society in future debates on the subject.
Photo: André Moreira