Bolivia
National Level
Gobierno Central
Intermediate/Regional Level
Departamentos 9
Local Level
Municipios 339
Cities
National Urban Policy
- National urban policy type:ExplicitPolicy temporality:Long-term
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Bolivia is a democratic, participatory, representative, communitarian and unitarian republic composed of nine departments at the subnational level. The political-administrative division corresponds to provinces which in turn are divided into municipalities.
Since 2009, with the promulgation of the new Political Constitution of the State, the decentralization process that Bolivia began to carry out since the 1990s deepened. The law No. 2028 promulgated in 1999 already determined the priority of its economic and social development through the transfer of resources and local autonomy. However, it is the Political Constitution of the State (CPE) that deepens its autonomy in terms of the ability to manage its economic resources, and exercise legislative, regulatory, supervisory, and executive powers. However, its main income comes from transfers from the central government through co-participation taxes, which reveals that there is still a significant dependence on the central government, followed by the direct tax on hydrocarbons and its own taxes.
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Bolivia has several instruments for land use planning, such as plans, laws, and strategies that define short, medium, and long-term planning. Under the concept of comprehensive territorial development, both the State and intermediate and local governments have the responsibility of developing land use planning plans and playing an active role in territorial planning and urban development. National plans should provide guidelines for the preparation of plans at the departmental and municipal levels. The concept of “Vivir Bien” (“Living Well”) and the set of knowledge of people and communities represents an important axis to direct urban and planning policies in the country.