Uruguay

Uruguay
State type
Unitary
Type of government
República democrática.
Branches
Legislative
Judicial
Executive
Administrative Division

National Level

Gobierno Central

Intermediate/Regional Level

Regiones 5

Departamentos 19

Local Level

Municipios 136

Official names of subnational and local governments

Intendencias

Gobiernos departamentales

Cities

National Urban Policy

  • The National Strategy for Access to Urban Land is an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Housing, Land Management and Environment, conceived as a participatory instance for the elaboration and conceptual development of public policies and, at the same time, an instrumental tool for urban development, land management, housing and habitat. It is composed of an articulated set of political objectives, programmatic axes and strategic guidelines, and their associated goals, to be achieved in the short and medium term and to promote sensible changes in the use and availability of urban land for housing purposes, mainly for social housing and urban development programmes, in line with the aspiration of fair access to adequate habitat for the entire population. (p. 7, para. 1)

    Mvotma and Planning and Budget Office (OPP) are also promoting the National Sustainable Cities Strategy, a nationwide land-use planning instrument that seeks greater inclusion of the environmental and ecosystemic dimensions in the planning of Uruguayan cities. The Strategy proposes to establish objectives, strategic guidelines, and concrete mechanisms to coordinate the actions of public institutions when planning and managing cities in an orderly and systematic manner. Its development will allow progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the commitments made by Uruguay at the World Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Information on the stategy's progress is presented in the attached link.

    National urban policy type:
    Explicit
    Policy temporality:
    Long-term
  • Uruguay is a unitary republic made up of two subnational levels of government: departmental and municipal. Traditionally, the country had only one level of government, the departmental level, which served as the local government. However, significant progress was made in the decentralization process, leading to the establishment of municipalities as local governments in 2009. The country is currently undergoing a process of municipalization.

    Currently, municipalities are bodies subject to the hierarchy of departmental governments, which implies limited financial and fiscal autonomy, as well as limited sources of revenue. Their main sources of income are allocations from the central government, budgetary allocations determined by departmental governments, and donations or bequests. Departments, in turn, enjoy considerable autonomy in administering their taxes and determining taxable values, as well as in proposing taxes, fees, and contributions.

    The main sources of departmental revenue are their own resources, particularly tax revenues, among which the Property Tax and the Vehicle License Tax are significant, along with various service fees. Transfers from the central government also represent an important source of departmental funding.

  • In Uruguay, urban and rural planning was consolidated in the System of Territorial Organization and Sustainable Development, founded by law in 2008. In 2009, important measures were taken towards decentralization with the approval of Law No. 18 567 on Political Decentralization and Citizen Participation, which established the municipalities as local governments under the hierarchy of their respective departments. This was a key moment in the decentralization of land use planning in Uruguay. In 2010, the first local governments were elected and there are currently 112 municipalities.

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