Relocation as a planning instrument, Managed retreat for natural hazard prevention from a planning perspective

Abweichender Titel nach Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersNaturgefahren stellen eine zentrale Rahmenbedingung für die räumliche Entwicklung dar. Unter der Prämisse die Bevölkerung, Sachgüter und Infrastruktur vor Schadereignisse zu schützen, können, unterschiedliche Maßnahmen in einem integralen Naturgefahrenmanagement ergriffen werden. Ist es nicht möglich technische Maßnahmen oder Anpassungen an Gebäuden vorzunehmen, wird mitunter der Abbruch von Gebäuden und die Umsiedlung der BewohnerInnen als passive Schutzmaßnahme ergriffen. Absiedlung aus Gefahrenbereichen stellt dabei eine komplexe Aufgabe insb. für die öffentliche Hand dar. In Österreich gibt es seit den 1970er Jahren Erfahrungen mit Absiedlungen im Zusammenhang mit verschiedenen Naturgefahrenprozessen, vor allem aber bei Hochwassergefahren. Im internationalen Diskurs werden Absiedlungen aktuell verstärkt diskutiert. So hat etwa die UNHCR „Richtlinien zu geplanter Absiedlung“1 verfasst und auch in Deutschland und der Schweiz wird diese Maßnahme verstärkt in Betracht gezogen. Relevant ist Absiedlung als Schutzmaßnahme bei bestehenden Gefährdungen, zukünftig aber auch im Zusammenhang mit klimatischen Veränderungen. Die Forschungsarbeit untersucht im Kontext des österreichischen Naturgefahrenmanagements die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen von Absiedlungen mit Fokus auf die raumplanerische Komponente. Dies wird ergänzt um die systematische Darstellung von Praxisbeispielen und mit einer Evaluierung dieser Absiedlungsprozesse abgeschlossen. Insb. mit Blick auf die Richtlinien der UNHCR, werden Handlungsfelder und Empfehlungen für die Weiterentwicklung des Instruments im Naturgefahrenmanagement mit besonderem Fokus auf die raumplanerischen Potentiale identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse der Forschungsarbeit zeigen, dass Absiedlungen auf freiwilliger Basis innerhalb der geltenden rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen bereits umgesetzt werden können und hier Mechanismen gefunden wurden, um eine langfristige bauliche Freihaltung betroffener Bereiche sicherzustellen. Absiedlung als Maßnahme zur Risikominimierung ist bereits vergleichsweise gut etabliert. Raumplanerische Instrumente werden derzeit kaum strategisch in die Projekte eingebunden. Insgesamt ergibt sich ein Verbesserungspotential hinsichtlich einer integralen Prozessbegleitung. Dies betrifft auf institutioneller Seite die Koordination und Kooperation involvierter Behörden und öffentlicher Stellen sowie auf Seite der Betroffenen die bessere Einbindung in die Planung und Abwicklung. In einer ganzheitlichen Betrachtung ist es wichtig die individuellen Bedürfnisse zu berücksichtigen.Natural hazards are an essential condition for spatial development. Following the premise to safeguard people as well as property and infrastructure from damages by hazard events, different measures can be undertaken in an integrative natural hazard management. If no structural measures or adaptations of objects are possible, occasionally the deconstruction of endangered buildings and the relocation of the inhabitants is undertaken as a passive protective measure. Relocation in hazard areas poses a difficult state assignment. Furthermore, the relocation of people living in hazard prone areas also confronts the public sector with a complex, multilayered task. Austria can draw on experience with relocation in connection with natural hazards, especially because of flood hazards, since the 1970s. In the international discussion, relocation has always received a considerable amount of attention. For example, the UNHCR has published a “Guidance on Planned Relocation”2 and the measure is increasingly considered in Germany and Switzerland. Relocation is relevant in the context of existing hazards, as well as in the future due to changing climate conditions. The research investigates the legal framework of relocation, focusing on a planning perspective in the Austrian natural hazard management. This is complemented with a systematic presentation of practice examples and concludes with an evaluation of relocation processes. Especially with regards to the UNHCR guidelines, fields of action and recommendations for the further development of relocation in natural hazard management with a special focus on potentials in spatial planning are identified. The results of the research show, that relocation on a voluntary basis is possible within the existing legal framework. To ensure that concerned areas are kept undeveloped, mechanisms have been developed. Relocation as a measure for risk reduction is comparatively well established. Spatial planning measures, however, are currently hardly ever integrated strategically in such projects. Overall, there exists a potential of improvement for an integral process support. This concerns the coordination and cooperation of involved authorities and other public institutions on the institutional side. Regarding affected people it refers to their improved involvement in planning and implementation. Thus, an integrative approach with the consideration of individual demands is important.26

Building plots in hazard areas Legal handling of building plots in hazardous areas in Austria and Switzerland

Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersDer Siedlungsraum des Menschen und Einflussbereiche von Naturgefahren überschneiden sich seit jeher. Österreich und die Schweiz sind zwei Länder, die sich aufgrund ihrer Topographie mit unterschiedlichen Naturgefahren in der Raumplanung auseinandersetzen müssen. Die Arbeit untersucht in einer vergleichenden Studie die rechtlichen Regelungen zu Naturgefahren in der Widmungs- bzw.Nutzungsplanung in den österreichischen Bundesländern und dem schweizer Kanton Graubünden. Um die praktische Umsetzung der rechtlichen Regelungen beurteilen zu können, wurden einige Experten zur Thematik interviewt. Es zeigt sich, dass es nach der Jahrtausendwende bereits eine intensive Auseinandersetzung mit dem Themenbereich im Zuge einiger Projekten gegeben hat. Die resultierenden Empfehlungen wurden allerdings nur in geringem Mass umgesetzt. Von rechtlicher Seite gibt es nach wie vor einen Bedarf, die Bestimmungen zu vereinfachen und zu vereinheitlichen. Weiters wäre es notwendig Gefährdungsbereiche, die in der Regel als Fachgutachten vorliegen, durchwegs zu funktionalisieren und im Planungsrecht verbindlich zu verankern.The settlement area of people and the influence areas of natural hazards has always overlapped. Austria and Switzerland are two countries that have to deal with different natural hazards in land use planning due to their topography. The paper examines in a comparative study the legal regulations on natural hazards in land use planning in the Austrian provinces, and the Swiss canton of Graubünden. To assess the practical implementation of legal regulations, some experts were interviewed on the subject. It turns out that after the turn of the millennium an intense discussion of the topic took place. But the recommendations were not implemented for the most part. Relating to the legal basis, there is still a need for simplifying and unifying the regulations. Furthermore, it would be necessary to functionalise hazard areas, which are available generally as expert opinions, consistently and to install them bindingly in planning law.9

Contribution of Spatial Planning to Affordable Housing in Austria

Developing the affordable housing stock is an ongoing political and social challenge with great relevance for ensuring equal living conditions and social peace. With the aim of providing a certain share of low priced dwellings, planning authorities seek to mobilise suitable plots of land and support developers with subsidies. These mechanisms are complex and therefore the coordinating board for planning in Austria, the Austrian Conference on Spatial Planning, started a so called ‘partnership’ by bringing relevant stakeholders together to evaluate the actual contribution of spatial planning to affordable housing. As a result, recommendations were formulated that now serve as policy guideline for the further development of planning instruments towards a flexible and demand orientated Affordable Housing production. The paper sums up the stakeholder discussion and depicts the current challenges and potentials spatial planning faces in Austria. Thereby, the paper contributes to the international discussion of developing planning instruments and approaches

Contribution of spatial planning to affordable housing in Austria

Book of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Developing the affordable housing stock is an ongoing political and social challenge with great relevance for ensuring equal living conditions and social peace. With the aim of providing a certain share of low-priced dwellings, planning authorities seek to mobilise suitable plots of land and support developers with subsidies. These mechanisms are complex and therefore the coordinating board for planning in Austria, the Austrian Conference on Spatial Planning, started a so called ‘partnership’ by bringing relevant stakeholders together to evaluate the actual contribution of spatial planning to affordable housing. As a result, recommendations were formulated that now serve as policy guideline for the further development of planning instruments towards a flexible and demand orientated Affordable Housing production. The paper sums up the stakeholder discussion and depicts the current challenges and potentials spatial planning faces in Austria. Thereby, the paper contributes to the international discussion of developing planning instruments and approaches.Published versio

Open spaces in the European Alps—GIS-based analysis and implications for spatial planning from a transnational perspective

This article presents an open space concept of areas that are kept permanently free from buildings, technical infrastructure, and soil sealing. In the European Alps, space is scarce because of the topography; conflicts often arise between competing land uses such as permanent settlements and commercial activity. However, the presence of open spaces is important for carbon sequestration and the prevention of natural hazards, especially given climate change. A GIS-based analysis was conducted to identify an alpine-wide inventory of large-scale near-natural areas, or simply stated, open spaces. The method used identified the degree of infrastructure development for natural landscape units. Within the Alpine Convention perimeter, near-natural areas (with a degree of infrastructural development of up to 20%) account for a share of 51.5%. Only 14.5% of those areas are highly protected and are mostly located in high altitudes of over 1500 m or 2000 m above sea level. We advocate that the remaining Alpine open spaces must be preserved through the delimitation of more effective protection mechanisms, and green corridors should be safeguarded through spatial planning. To enhance the ecological connectivity of open spaces, there is the need for tailored spatial and sectoral planning strategies to prevent further landscape fragmentation and to coordinate new forms of land use for renewable energy production

Win–Win for Everyone? Reflecting on Nature-Based Solutions for Flood Risk Management from an Environmental Justice Perspective

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are often framed positively in terms of win–win options or no-regret measures. However, are NbS equally beneficial for everyone? Are burdens and benefits of NbS really equally distributed and projects embraced by everyone? Is the process leading to the implementation of NbS always fair and inclusive? This chapter provides a broad overview of different environmental justice issues, critically reflecting on NbS through recognition justice, procedural justice, and distributive justice. Whereas the current critical literature focuses particularly on urban NbS, this chapter focuses on the wider translocal consequences of NbS projects. The theoretical reflections are illustrated with case studies of NbS from various countries: the recognition of marginalised women in Vietnam in mangrove restoration projects, the challenges when introducing procedural justice in implementing NbS in Serbia, the legal injustices locals are faced in the Czech Republic when they want to implement NbS, the trade-off between public collective and individual economic interest when implementing a sand nourishment project in the Netherlands, and the development of a beneficiary-pays based upstream–downstream compensation scheme in Austria

Safeguarding open spaces in the Alpine region

A group of members of the AlpPlan Alpine spatial planning network elaborated this position paper. It contains assessments and recommendations related to key spatial challenges of transnational relevance in the Alpine region. It generally refers to the entire Alpine macroregion (EUSALP perimeter). However, some issues are particularly relevant to the core Alpine area, defined by the Alpine Convention perimeter. The paper is addressed to spatial planners, decision makers and all stakeholders involved in sustainable territorial development of the Alpine region. The specific circumstances, spatial planning systems and instruments in the various Alpine states and regions differ to some extent. Therefore, the recommendations should always be interpreted in the respective national, regional or local context