Cuba

Cuba
State type
Unitary
Type of government
República; Estado socialista, de derecho y justicia social, democrático, independiente y soberano
Branches
Legislative
Judicial
Executive
Administrative Division

National Level

Gobierno Central

Intermediate/Regional Level

Provincias 15

Local Level

Municipios 168

Cities

National Urban Policy

  • Cuba's National Action Plan (NAP), a State Plan for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) evidences the commitment made by the Cuban Government when it endorsed the Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Housing and Urban Development (Habitat III) held in October 2016 and at the XXVI General Assembly of Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities of Housing and Urban Development of Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI), June 2017, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This commitment is part of the cross-cutting understanding of the urban thematic in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through its Goal 11.

    The purpose of the NAP is to become a public policy reference that contributes to the coherence and consistency of the management results of national and local governments, as well as all sectors, institutions and the population. This, based on the understanding of the need for sustainable development of human settlements, urbanization and the territory in a balanced and integrated manner across the economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions.

    Cuba's National Urban Policy is composed of several documents and dimensions, which include, in addition to the NAP, the National Land Use Planning Scheme (ENOT), and Law 145 on Land Use, Urban Planning and Land Management.

    National urban policy type:
    Explicit
    Policy temporality:
    Long-term
  • Cuba is a unitary republic with a centrally planned economy that is divided into provinces and municipalities. The allocation of the municipal budget depends on the approval of the Provincial Assembly, which indicates that the municipalities' own resources and taxation powers are still largely under the authority of the central government. However, in recent years, with the creation of the Territorial Development Policy, an attempt has been made to strengthen the municipalities with strategies and principles that promote their autonomy and reduce inequality among them.

  • In Cuba, several instruments of territorial ordering have been developed: schemes, policies, and plans. Their elaboration and monitoring are the responsibility of the Institute of Physical Planning. Cuba has assumed the challenge of implementing the New Urban Agenda in the national context, which is reflected in the State Plan for the New Urban Agenda 2036. In general, territorial planning instruments are based on the Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution for the period 2016-2021, together with the Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development and the Bases of the National Plan of Economic and Social Development until 2030. Decision-making capacity in land use is centralized and most of the instruments are at the national level, although the provinces and municipalities are increasingly involved in carrying out land use plans and schemes.

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