Planning Authority (Spatial Planning)

At national level, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) leads the spatial planning tasks as per role and function defined in the establishment of MLMUPC in 1999. The core ministries involved in spatial planning matters are, besides the MLMUPC, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of Environment and others which formed the National Committee for Land Management, and Urban Planning (the committee is chaired by minister of MLMUPC). 22 national ministries are represented in the NCLMUP where all major decisions are vetted before they are taken by the cabinet. The key role is to advice on territorial planning including technical aspects, and decision prior the final endorsement to be made by the Council of Minister. At sub-national level, the sub-committee of LMUP (chaired by provincial governor) plays similar role with the technical supports from various line departments of the national ministries.

All local plan will have to be aligned with national government's policies which the overarching decentralization and deconcentration (D&D) policies* are very important, with a strong impact on any spatial and economic policies affecting all cities and towns. Right after the emergency relief phase of re-building Cambodia in the early 1990s, the D&D experiment phase were introduced with long-term support by UNDP and all other foreign aid agencies and D&D reform become official in 2002 after first election of CS councils. These overarching policies are still being expanded and filled in by means of the entire planning system on land management and local administration. The land management sector has been supported by international aid for nearly 20 years and will be likely further supported, along with international support to the urban planning and management functions at national and subnational levels.

• *National Programme on Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) 2010-2019 and its 3 years Implementation Plan (IP3) 2015-2017 is designed to support the implementation of Organic Laws and in full swing of implementation.

Features of Socioeconomic Planning

In 2004, a document titled “Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity, and Efficiency” (hereinafter, the Rectangular Strategy) was issued, to present a comprehensive national development strategy of the new administration built in the previous year. The strategy extracted key elements from the “Cambodia Millennium Development Goals”, the “Socio- Economic Development Plan 2001-2005”, and the “National Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003-2005”, and inherited the traditional “Triangular Strategy” of the government. Followed by the issuance of the “Rectangular Strategy-Phase II” in 2008, the current “Rectangular Strategy –Phase III” (RS III) was issued in 2013.

The government of Cambodia holds a vision of being ranked as mid/high-income country by 2030 and high-income country by 2050. The RS III plays a vital role as a base for realizing this vision, as it promotes national development and poverty reduction with a long-term sustainability through: Promotion of Agricultural Sector; The Development of Physical Infrastructure; Private Sector Development and Employment; and Capacity Building and Human Resource Development.

The “National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP)” plays a role of 5 years action plan for making the policy guidance, the “Rectangular Strategy”, feasible. As for NSDP, its initial version was the NSDP 2006-2010 which was approved by the cabinet* in 2006 as a 5-year plan combining the “Socio- Economic Development Plan –Phase II (2001-2005)” and the “National Poverty Reduction Strategy (2003-2005)” (Cambodian version of “Poverty Reduction Paper“, a collaborated request from the World Bank and the IMF to 72 developing countries). NSDP 2006-2010 was updated for the period of 2009-2012 rather than new formulation, allowing the next NSDP formulation to align with the cycle of RS-III 2014-2018 of the government of the fifth legislature of national assembly.

The RS III serves as a policy framework, a roadmap of NSDP**. The “Key Policy Priorities and Actions 2014-2018” of NSDP2014-2018 is consisted of 6 pillars: “Good Governance: The Core of the Rectangular Strategy”, “Overarching Environment for Implementing the Strategy”, “Promotion of Agricultural Sector”, “The Development of Physical Infrastructure”, “Private Sector Development and Employment”, and “Capacity Building and Human Resource Development”. Efforts and measures for spatial development are mentioned in each of the pillar individually. There are however questions on measurement indicators of the progress of NSDP and authority to do so. Ministry of Planning does not seem to have sufficient resources to assess the results, but national each ministry who often wanted to prioritize its territorial entity. To support the achievement of NSDP 2014-2018, the Government has assigned the Council for the Development of Cambodian to develop Development Cooperation and Partnerships Strategy (2014-18) aiming to improve the capacity of sector ministries (TWGs), oversee development assistance and partnership arrangements with traditional and new emerging donors to achieve development effectiveness rather than aid effectiveness.

• *Council of Ministers is an avenue for adoption of national policies and legislations before submission to parliament
• **Ministry of Planning (MoP), in charge of planning the NSDP, states that “The NSDP is the single, overarching, guiding and reference document of the RGC and the ‘blue print for further progress’ in building a new Cambodia. Government and external development partners are expected to align their supports with the priorities set out in the NSDP.” (http://www.mop.gov.kh/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx)

Features of Physical (Spatial) Planning

The Royal Government's Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency, Phase III (RS-III) and the current National Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018 consolidates and outlines the Royal Government's goals, objectives, and actions to be achieved during the fifth mandate of the Royal Government and beyond. The RS-III identifies, “four priority areas” including ‘responding to urban development’ (section 14, para. 2). Which will contribute to “outcomes including: (i) lower transport costs; (ii) Improved reliability and effectiveness; (iii) Improvements in competitiveness; and (iv) increasing in investment in (economic and industrial development and) trade”. RS-III also highlights the need for “managing (the) environment and climate change (which) has become another challenge for the sustainability of Cambodia's economic growth and social development, due to pressures from population growth and urbanization”.

To achieve these prioritised objectives, the Royal Government will focus on (i) promoting the comprehensive land policy through the “White Paper on Land”, and (ii) the preparation of a Law on Land Management and Urban Planning”, to which the National Urban Development Strategy process will contribute. The NUDS will also assist in giving more attention to urban infrastructure and economic development needs through industrialisation and modernization as key factors in supporting economic growth and development, enhancing economic efficiency as well as strengthening competitiveness and promoting Cambodia's economic diversification, especially for poverty reduction. The Government has also prioritised its intentions to;

The NSDP 2014-2018 also recognises the challenges for sustainability of Cambodia's economic growth and social development due to population growth, urbanization, climate change and disasters, and other factors, (see NSDP section 4.39). It states that during the five-year life of the NSDP, RGC “intends to intensify land reforms, focusing on strengthening the management, organisation, utilisation, and distribution of lands. That will contribute to reducing poverty, protecting the environment, and (promoting) socio-economic development, within a market framework” including “the preparation of Law on Land Management and Urban Planning” and other inputs (being drafted as of January 2016). The Ministry of Land Management Urbanisation and Construction (MLMUPC) is committed to undertaking a wide range of actions (see NSDP section 4.62) within its mandate including**:

• Approving a Law on Land Management and Urban Planning, and related legal policy documents to implement this Law.
• Adopting and effectively using, the hierarchy set by the Policy on Land Management, and the Royal Decree and Sub-decree on the Establishment of Committees for Land Management and Urban Planning at all levels for land management plans in municipalities and provinces.
• Continue to adopt the National Housing Policy, in order to resolve housing problems for poor people so they can live in safety, welfare, and in dignity.
• Continue to provide technical support to the councils of all municipalities, districts, khans, communes, and sangkat in the preparation of master plans and land use plans.
• Strengthen the effectiveness of work on collection, compilation, and production, as well as the dissemination of data and statistics for land management and urban planning

Mutually these will guide and influence national and urban development in Cambodia for the coming period and will be crucial in giving and expressing overall direction and guidance for developing the National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS). They will also influence future national policies, strategies and plans, which will require urban strategies to be adaptive and flexible to meet and address evolving and changing priorities.

In the latter half of the 2000s, trial of Participatory Land Use Planning and Commune Land Use Planning at the rural community level kicked off in Cambodia. The effort of introducing spatial planning began in relation to delegation of land management authority to the local level. Further, it became to be perceived that spatial planning is indispensable for the sustainable development of Cambodia. However, system for the spatial planning is still under development. In the “National Spatial Planning Policy” approved by the council of ministers in April 2011 shows the hierarchy of spatial planning they are aiming***.

“National Spatial Planning Policy” states that spatial planning of each level of administration, Land Use Master Plan and Land Use Planning will be set force based on the principle of decentralization of power and various laws concerning the management of local administration. It classifies the planning of each level of administration broadly into the following:

• Regional/ global Supra national level: Economic Cooperation Development Plans (for example, within ASEAN and Greater Mekong Subregion)
• Planning in the national level (National Spatial Planning and Regional Spatial Planning targeting areas broader than a province); and
• Planning in the sub-national level (3 levels of planning such as Capital/Municipal: Capital, Municipal Land-Use Master Plans and (more detailed) Land-Use Plans, District/Khan level: District, Khan Land-Use Plans, and Commune/Sangkat level: Commune, Sangkat Land-Use Plan (CLUP), and local project development plan (example, community upgrading, land sharing, concrete road rehabilitation projects, etc.)

Although the legal basis is now (2015) much more complete than only a few years ago, the system remains to be one of policy declarations and regulations, without adequate implementation in practice. The system of plan making thus mainly consists of draft regulations as in the National Policy on Spatial Planning (2013). Here, an impressive hierarchy of cross-sector physical plans are proposed, from the communes up to the national programs. Cambodia has also begun to participate in interactive planning and policy making with the neighbouring countries, for example, in the Greater Mekong Subregion (where the Asian Development Bank assists the six participating countries in their work). The Figure below illustrates the intended hierarchy of land use plans and master plans.

Characteristics of the plans for each level are as per described below (as spelled out in the Organic Law, 2008).

The planning system is seemingly highly developed by now but in reality, not many plans for municipalities have been elaborated (all by national government, with some participation at the local level), but they have not been nor approved yet (by the national cabinet). With exception, The City of Battambang and its Land Use Plan has been approved early in December 2015 because of great advantage of more than ten years foreign technical aid, primarily from the German GIZ. Similarly, the Strategic orientation for Phnom Penh Capital with time horizon of 2005-2020 had been developed and discussed since 2002, and was only approved in principle in December 2015 (revised to as 2035 horizon).

• *The National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS) corresponds to this National Strategy on Development of Municipal and Urban Areas
• **Quoting from NSDP, Planned Actions to Implement the Prioritized Policies (section 4.63), Land Management and Urban Planning subsection
• ***This document, put together by the General Secretariat of the Council for Land Policy with the cooperation of German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), presents to the government the vision, goals, objectives and strategies to ensure the sustainability, equity, equilibrium, and the integration of developments within the country, region, and international arena.

Metropolitan and Other Regional Planning Systems

The urban planning system and its instruments

Several laws/regulation are being drafted to with respect to territorial management. This will require consideration and harmonisation with the National Policy on Spatial Planning and the Organic Law. The National Urban Development Strategy Framework (NUDSF) has been drafted (December 2015) providing guidance to a fully-fledged NUDS to be prepared in the future. The NUDSF stated that NUDS should contribute to and give guidance to existing and evolving system for master, land use, detailed plans and other specific plans (as designated) as they are drafted and implemented at various levels of government. In the future, relevant sector based plans should incorporate and refer to the NUDS as a prevailing tool for coordinating national and local goals and objectives in urban areas.

Jointly spatial and environmental frameworks and the administrative structure (the capital, provinces, municipalities, khan/district, and other sub-national administration areas such as communes/Sangkat) form the basis for the planning hierarchy, which may require further developments in planning legislation to enable and synthesis sector/area based plans, which may be developed. Clearly defined roles for local authorities exist; the Law on Administrative Management of the Capital, Provinces, Municipalities, Districts and Khans (the Organic Law#2-2008), Law on Commune/Sangkat Administrative Management (Organic Law#1:2001), the National Policy on Spatial Planning and the Sub-Decree on the Establishment of Committees for Land Management and Urban Planning (at different levels). There is also a need for capacity development and guidance for them as well as for clarifying the roles, responsibilities, and inputs to be provided by other national agencies and their subordinate entities. All development plans will have some resource requirements (natural, financial and human), and these need to be considered at an early stage to ensure that cost effective and implementable plans are developed and adopted.

The NUDSF also emphasized on the needs for considering the Supra National, Regional Development Planning and Cooperation Requirements and Factors. (Including planning coordination between neighbouring regions/cities and distribution of employment and population). There is a need for a broad conceptual division of the national territory into a number of possible development areas (agricultural, tourism, industrial,-or where Special Economic Zones-SEZs exist, and urban settlements) and protected areas (national parks, nature reserves, other biodiversity conservation areas, as well as for heritage and cultural conservation). The coastal areas will require special attention to balance the competing interests from possible resource exploitation (oil and gas reserves), industrial, tourism and urban settlements (port cities and industrial complexes), as well as recreation and nature conservation areas and the increasing risks from climate change. Including consideration of new urban centres, that may be proposed and created as well as for population and employment distribution.

Regionalization for analysis and policy purposes

The present system of five or six statistical regions may need to be reformulated to a system of more appropriate planning regions. This will require consultation and consensus with other government institutions/ministries and stakeholders to ensure coordination and alignment between them. A possible proposal for adjusting the planning regions, would consider – Metropolitan Phnom Penh, border regions, other planning regions, based on geographic, economic, and administrative criteria. There will be a need to encourage and support sub-national regional planning with cooperation between cities, urban and rural areas along economic corridors for their mutual benefit.

The macro-regional development framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and ASEAN also needs to be considered especially for border provinces and urban areas. Where urban development across national boundaries is now to be handled by a special Urban Taskforce under the GMS ministerial conference. Further reference may be needed to integrate current and emerging policies from ASEAN and its ending ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

During the recent decades, Cambodia has stepped ahead in establishing a fair amount of policies, strategies, laws and regulation pertaining to land management, and urban planning. Some important policies are summarized below:

The National Policy on Housing is likely to be one of the important components of the NUDS, as it is intended to regulate and facilitates processes for the provision of and or encouragement of cost effective and affordable housing for poor and vulnerable families. As well as addressing informal settlement issues.

Comprehensive Land Policy (“Land White Paper”)

Improving land tenure through property titling may need further refinement, as significant increases in values due to urban expansion are not being captured by the state. Potential “capital gains” through the increased opportunities for local taxation to contribute to revenues available to sub-national administration need to be considered, in which land conversions and changes of use significantly increase the values, some of which may need to be captured by local authorities for the operation budgets. Other aspects of the policy will need to be mainstreamed and incorporated into the NUDS.

The Royal Government has adopted a cross cutting National Green Growth Policy and Strategy in 2013 and it has been mainstreamed into the National Strategic Development Plan 2014-2018 as an essential means to sustainable development and aspects of this policy need to be adapted and incorporated to NUDS as does the consideration of the “3E approach” (economy, environment and equity).

The recently adopted Industrial Development Policy highlights the need to better consider the rapidly changing and diversifying economy that is transitioning Cambodia. It identifies possible thrusts for industrial development that will be linked to expanding the connectivity of growth centres and corridors and the future possible roles for urban expansion. As well as the proposed development of an industrial zoning and development master plan, aimed at “promoting competitive SMEs and industries in designated provinces”.

The Government intends to provide essential support, including, “promoting spatial planning and urban development in designated industrial regions such as in Svay Rieng, Sihanoukville and Koh Kong provinces and Paoy Paet Municipality to coordinate industrial activities aimed at enhancing land use planning, environmental management, residential development and infrastructure development. Developing Phnom Penh capital into an industrial agglomeration through implementing a long-term urban development plan with clear designation of industrial, administrative and residential areas, aimed at transforming Phnom Penh into a dynamic centre of culture, knowledge and industry.

Integration of Transport and Land Use Planning

The majority of current transport routes connect and transit the main urban centres in the country and as these grow, transiting and locally generated traffic and the movement of goods and produce will take longer to get to their destinations. This will need to be monitored and alternative routes planned and developed. Additionally some urban centres are dispersed requiring motorised traffic to get around which is excessively wasteful of energy and resources, in this context how to reduce motorised dependencies through planning and development will be crucial. Compact cities and town concepts as well as ‘public transport policy and approaches for smaller towns need to be explored.

In “The Development of Physical Infrastructure”, policies for development of the national transportation network are stated. It states that master plan for improvement of transportation infrastructure across the national territory as well as those connecting with neighboring countries are to be developed and implemented with an aim of facilitating investment, trade, tourism and rural development. It also states that the focus should be placed on the restoration and maintenance of railway system (restoration of north line between Phnom Penh and Poipet to connect to Thailand), further maintenance of infrastructure of airport and seaport, appraisal of investment possibility in the inland waterway transport and so on. In addition, it states that construction of high speed roads is to be encouraged, giving first priority to route between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. Moreover, it is projected that national, provincial and rural roads will be paved at the speed of 300 to 400 km per year.

Expressway development plans

Reportedly JICA is supporting a major expressway project that will reduce travel time from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City from 6 to 3 hours only. The expressway which will also include a connection to Sihanoukville will be operational by 2020. The expressway project and the many improvements to national roads will enhance connectivity among the urban centres primarily within the core area, but much less so with the under-urbanized periphery [Preliminary Feasibility Study for Phnom Penh-Ho Chi Minh City Expressway Development Plan, Study is underway commissioned by JICA, 2014].

National integration has been one of the purposes for making heavy investment in infrastructure. In order to reduce poverty in the rural areas throughout the nation, the government has been investing in construction/improvement of roadways that connect major cities with rural areas, with an aim of reinforcing connection between villages and the cities, so as to provide markets for agricultural products for village residents and to create opportunities for improving their lives.

The GMS framework 2014-2022 intends to connect countries in the Sub-Mekong region including Cambodia, Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in the People's Republic of China (PRC), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam with Collective Vision: “Sustainable urban development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region” encompasses important aspects such as: Economic corridors are an efficient way to maximize their effectiveness; Special economic zones (SEZs) are essentially an economic tool rather than an urban or regional planning measure; and Economic corridors and SEZs have a role to play in regional, national and urban development in the GMS countries. See Figure 4 below.