The importance of urban spatial frames has multiple dimensions. These include urban planning and design instruments that support a sustainable management and use of natural resources and land, which consider adequate levels of compactness and density, polycentricity, and mixed uses, through creating strategies for filling empty spaces or planning for further expansion. These drive economies of scale and agglomeration, strengthen food system planning and increase resource efficiency, urban resilience, and environmental sustainability.
Within urban regulatory frameworks, an adequate municipal financing level and legislation at different levels are essential to enhance urban governance.