Abstract
This chapter examines the importance of planning instruments and environmental management regulations resulting from Brazilian public policies in making urban growth sustainable. To this end, we present the case of updating the Municipal Master Plan (MMP) of Rondonópolis, a medium-sized city located in the southeast of the state of Mato Grosso and in the transition zone of two important Brazilian biomes (Cerrado and Pantanal), the latter of which is already on the list of global biodiversity hotspots. Rondonópolis is a city that since the 1970s has experienced vigorous economic growth, which has boosted the expansion and subdivision of urban land, as well as accelerated the degradation of its ecosystems. In 2013, the largest railroad terminal in Latin America was installed in its urban space. Since the installation of this terminal would imply the occurrence of many positive and negative impacts for the municipality, and especially for the city of Rondonópolis, the federal government established several conditions for granting the environmental license for its construction, including carrying out socio-environmental studies to support the review of its Municipal Master Plan (MMP). By law, the prerogative of carrying out work to update an MMP, the main instrument of Brazilian urban policy, belongs to municipal public managers. However, in the case of Rondonópolis, they found themselves forced to observe the technical guidelines indicated by a researcher from the Federal University of Rondonópolis. This was due to a decision handed down by the judiciary after intervention by the Public Ministry of the State of Mato Grosso, as managers had been found to not respect the conditions of the environmental licensing of this terminal. The result was interesting as it makes it possible to consider the potential of the planning and management instruments of Brazilian public policies, particularly in relation to the mitigation of the impacts of the main vectors of economic growth related to local biodiversity. This is central to meeting desired sustainability goals of this city, as well as being an unprecedented experience in terms of management, with the work of updating a MMP being carried out by a scientist, and not by those ruled by politicians.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Ecology of Tropical Cities, Volume I |
| Subtitle of host publication | Natural and Social Sciences Applied to the Conservation of Urban Biodiversity |
| Place of Publication | Switzerland |
| Publisher | Springer, [Cham] |
| Pages | 399-449 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-031-48012-6 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-031-48011-9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Apr 2025 |
