Special urban planning plans for port uses

Abstract

This paper examines the legal framework governing the planning of Ports of General Interest in Spain and its relationship with urban planning. It proceeds from the premise that ports constitute strategic infrastructure for the national economy and are characterised by considerable technical and territorial complexity, thereby requiring a specific planning regime. Within this framework, a distinction is drawn between strategic port-planning instruments and instruments governing the physical configuration of port areas. The latter regulate the expansion and structural development of the port, delimit the port public domain, and organise its internal uses, thus performing a function that is substantively planning in nature. Both categories of instruments have a significant impact on territorial and urban development planning. Against this background, the paper analyses the mechanisms for coordination with urban planning through special urban development plans, whose purpose is to reconcile port planning with urban planning requirements. These plans seek to integrate the spatial organisation of the port into the municipal structure without affecting its essential functional role. In carrying out this task, the system is not based on a relationship of subordination between public authorities but rather on a model of coordinated exercise of powers between the State, which holds functional jurisdiction over Ports of General Interest, and the Autonomous Communities and municipalities, which retain their urban-planning competences.