Dominican Republic

República Dominicana
State type
Unitary
Type of government
Republica representativa democrática
Branches
Legislative
Judicial
Executive
Administrative Division

National Level

Gobierno Central

Intermediate/Regional Level

Regiones 10

Local Level

Municipios 158

National Urban Policy

  • The National Development Strategy is the result of a multi-stakeholder consultation process to define what kind of country Dominicans want to have by 2030. It aims to build a prosperous country, a participatory democracy and social justice. The Strategy establishes four strategic axes, with their corresponding objectives and lines of action, which define the development model to which the Dominican Republic aspires and around which public policies should be articulated.

    National urban policy type:
    Partial - Law
    Policy temporality:
    Long-term
  • The Dominican Republic has a sub-national level of government made up of municipal councils and local districts. The political administration of the nation corresponds to a unitary country, with municipalities constitutionally consecrated as autonomous in the political, administrative, and fiscal spheres.

    The municipalities are financed mainly from fees for the provision of services, but they are limited to charging fees for lighting, cleaning the public thoroughfare and surveillance. One of the peculiarities of Dominican legislation is that the Real Estate Property Tax, the region's famous municipal tax, is not administered or intended for municipalities, being collected by the national government, which certainly limits municipal finances.

    The main means of financing to fulfil municipal functions comes from transfers from the central government, which has generated great dependence, especially on the smaller municipalities.

    Other sources of financing are municipal funds deposits, income that corresponds to them because of Private Law, and the contribution of improvements that helps to defray the expenses of public works. As well as mechanisms to access Public-Private Partnerships for Development, the Public Credit System that allows the indebtedness of local governments under certain conditions, International Development Cooperation funds, and an urban resilience fund created precisely to prevent and mitigate the effects of disasters and natural hazards.
     

  • In the Dominican Republic, the legal framework indicates that land-use planning is a priority issue for the State. Land-use planning is defined as a continuous process that must be promoted by the State, which integrates participatory planning and management instruments to achieve a long-term organization of land use in the territory, according to its potential and development objectives to achieve a high quality of life.

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