Belo Horizonte's new Master plan contributions to the sustainable occupation of urban land

Abstract

Sustainable development's social, environmental, and economic spheres play an important role in balancing urban growth areas. Besides, guidelines for land occupation can be addressed in a Master Plan by many tools to build compact cities with proper integration of their operation activities. Thereby, the authors intend to highlight the major changes introduced in the Belo Horizonte Master Plan (Brazil) related to the sustainable development agenda as well as population service infrastructure compliance. As a result, a higher number of dwellings and a similar amount of non-residential units could be approved in the new Master Plan version. In addition, a greater permeable area and a smaller number of parking spots could also be noticed. Despite meeting the population's expectations, the available services can be improved through the market expansion grid. In sum, the sustainability guidelines established in the new version of the Master Plan could be observed in the case study area. As a key finding, some sustainable development goals could be achieved through space compactness improvement and easier local urban mobility.