Incentivising Sustainable Smart City

Incentives and disincentives in Development Control can promote or discourage certain adaptation and mitigation objectives. In the long term it can encourage behavioural and investments towards climate-friendly urbanisation as opposed to the business-as-usual model of development that depletes our natural resources. To realise certain planning goals, cities can utilise economic or non-financial incentives that endorse a more sustainable urban development. 

Examples of economic incentives that support climate change adaptation and mitigation includes fee or tax waivers, direct grants, municipal property tax rate reduction, tax abatements for infill development. Policy makers can also reward climate-friendly development through tax deduction, compensation, cross subsiding, reward, spatial rent and collected stock. To advance the mitigation and adaptation of climate change, non-financial stimulus for developers could take form of additional development rights, reduced planning requirements, reduced bureaucratic requirements, fast-tracking of the planning applications, and public investment in infrastructure required by the developer. To compensate for certain environmental losses, local municipalities could also claim developers to provide other public, natural or social infrastructure such as additional open space, access roads, community facilities, preservation of heritage buildings or structures, the preservation of natural features.

Reference:

Urban Planning Law for Climate Smart Cities: The Urban Law Module of the Law and Climate Change Toolkit by UN Habitat

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