The connection between urban land use planning, land structure and urban land development instruments – Kosovo case

Urban land use plan is a spatial planning document that defines how certain an urban land area will be developed in the future. In other words, it determines whether a certain land parcel is going to be used for building public infrastructure, public parks, the areas for public facilities, residential or commercial uses etc. One such document in Kosovo\u27s current spatial planning legislation is the Urban Regulatory Plan (URP) which sets out in detail the manner of land use in the area covered by the plan. A rational use of land often requires changes in land structure that can be made only if adequate urban development instruments and methods are adapted to suit the socio-economic conditions of the country, its government and the land tenure system. These instruments must have adequate legal support that is often needed to break the barriers that are imposed by individual landowners\u27 interests supported by advanced private property rights. This paper aims to highlight the importance of the link between the land use planning, land structure and instruments or methods applied to urban land development in Kosovo. In order to emphasize the importance of links between these elements to urban planning process in Kosovo there have been taken examples of Urban Regulatory Plans in various municipalities of Kosovo. These urban plans have been analyzed in various aspects such as the approval procedures, the legal support and the instruments used to implement them. Furthermore, there was developed a questionnaire with urban planners in the 7 main municipalities of Kosovo. The purpose of this questionnaire was to obtain their opinion on the state of implementation of urban plans and the needs for changes in the urban planning and management system in Kosovo that would help more efficient implementation of urban plans. Results from the study show that there is a strong connection between these three components. In other words, in order to use the land rationally, it is important to choose the instruments and methods for adapting the land structure to the land use plan. This is especially important in cases where the land is very fragmented and where the property rights represent a barrier to plan implementation as it is the case in Kosovo