It was recently reported that there are five municipalities in the Algarve that have not held, nor have scheduled, the first meeting of the consultative committee or the procedural conference for the review of the PDM. If they do not do so, they will lose access to national and European funds in areas considered non-essential.
In addition to this, there is also the situation that some Algarve municipalities are still in the final stages of monitoring the review of their PDM, that is, their PDM is, without exaggeration, out of date for decades.
The PDM revisions have suffered successive postponements of the deadline for its updating. The longer it is delayed, the longer the problem persists, having, in this case, enormous consequences for the territories.
However, PDM updates are heavy, bureaucratic and time-consuming processes, in other words, they are everything that economic development and innovation do not need.
In the case of the Algarve, it has long been necessary to review the PDM of its municipalities, as these changes will seek to respond to the need to establish strategic economic development projects or initiatives not only for the municipalities themselves, but also for the region, as a whole.
And, along with water, the Algarve urgently needs it.
The main final beneficiaries of these updates will be the populations of the region who will be able to see in their municipality, for example, the creation of new specific zonings for the construction of housing units at controlled costs, the possibility of creating areas for new and more appropriate public facilities to today's realities, namely schools, sports and multipurpose halls, new areas of business innovation, among others.
Needs change over the years and, therefore, it is necessary for municipalities to be properly trained to respond in a timely manner to the changes that their territories are undergoing. It is important, however, to manage the territory in order to protect spaces with greater urban and ecological vulnerability and promote territorial cohesion.
Updating the PDM can also enhance the competitiveness of a municipality in relation to others, but, in the case of the Algarve region, it does not matter that each municipality competes with each other, but rather that it creates fruitful synergies that enhance everyone and that creates positive externalities for the regional territory, which can thus compete with the rest of the country.
It is important to list the main advantages of a PDM review.
From the outset, with an updated PDM, municipalities will be able to have at their disposal plans for managing and defending the forest against fires or for managing and optimizing river basins, to, for example, deal more effectively with the phenomena of floods, caused by by climate change.
Secondly, with an updated PDM, municipalities will be able to promote and implement improvements in urban mobility and accessibility conditions for populations, with urban mobility and accessibility being “hot” topics in the region.
Finally, with a revised PDM, a huge range of options opens up that will promote the necessary conditions for a more dynamic, more innovative and competitive local and regional economy, thus attracting new companies and more investment.
In short, the review of a PDM, as is commonly said, is an instrument that will allow the establishment of a set of guidelines, principles and rules in various areas that directly affect the economic health of a municipality, but also greatly influence the its sustainable economic development and, ultimately, the lives and well-being of its citizens in the medium and long term.
Author Ricardo Proença Gonçalves has a degree in Business Management and a Post-Graduate Degree in Management of Health Units, from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve. also holds a Executive Program in Management Control and Performance Assessment at Nova SBE. He is also an effective member of the Algarve Regional Delegation of the Order of Economists and a member of the think tanks «Thinking Algarve».
Note: article published under the protocol between the Sul Informação and the Algarve Delegation of the Economist Order
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