Paraguay

Paraguay
State type
Unitary
Type of government
República Presidencial
Branches
Legislative
Judicial
Executive
Administrative Division

National Level

Gobierno Central

Intermediate/Regional Level

Departamentos 17

Local Level

Municipios 262

Ciudad Capital 1

National Urban Policy

  • The National Housing and Habitat Policy of Paraguay (PNVH) is the public management instrument that establishes the general guidelines for the formulation of institutional plans, programs and projects in the short, medium and long term, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 3909/10, which created the National Secretariat for Housing and Habitat. The purpose of the PNVH is to establish guidelines to guarantee access to decent and adequate housing and habitat for the population, with the participation of the different actors of society, within the framework of processes consistent with the priorities of national development, and also to promote the preparation and implementation of Sustainable Development Plans and Urban and Territorial Management Plans in local governments in coordination with the central government.

    To achieve this purpose, the PNVH is structured in 3 thematic axes: Governance and Institutionalism, Planning and Design, and Economy and Finance, and each of them has a series of strategic objectives and specific strategic objectives that identify the most relevant aspects of the housing and habitat problem in the current context of the country, providing guidelines for the effective use of resources towards the articulated, democratic and sustainable development of the national territory (Page 10).

    National urban policy type:
    Partial - Housing and Habitat Policy
    Policy temporality:
    Long-term
  • Paraguay is a unitary republic composed of three levels of government: national, departmental and municipal. Local governments, although subject to the plans of the central government, have administrative autonomy. It was during the 1990s, with the adjustments to the Constitution, that the municipalities began to democratically elect their authorities and move towards a gradual decentralization.  
    The participation of local governments in financial management and decisions is limited with a strong presence of the central government, however, the municipalities have a central administrative role. Their main revenues come from real estate taxes and road patents. In recent years, government transfers have become more important in municipal revenues, especially for those with lower incomes.
    The departments, like the municipalities, have relative autonomy, concentrated in administrative matters, and do not exercise direct responsibility for the collection of their resources.

  • In recent years Paraguay has worked on land use planning and urban development at different administrative levels. The executive power institutions such as the Secretary of the Environment and the Technical Secretary of Planning are responsible for proposing national instruments. Much of the work of territorial planning in Paraguay is develop at the local level through the Urban and Territorial Planning Plans and the Municipal Plans for Sustainable Development.

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