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Tool Wizard ASSISTED DECISION

Which urbanistic instrument applies?

Four questions to discover which instrument of urban policy best responds to your situation. Based on the City Statute, Reurb, and the Land Subdivision Law.

1 problem 2 detail 3 municipality 4 result
Step 1 of 4: type of problem
STEP 01 / 04

What is the main problem?

Choose the situation that most closely matches your case. Each path leads to a distinct set of instruments.

Step 2 of 4: specific detail
STEP 02 / 04

Specific detail

The question here changes depending on the situation chosen in the previous step.

Step 3 of 4: municipal characteristics
STEP 03 / 04

Municipal characteristics

These three points do not decide the instrument, but determine whether it can be applied immediately or requires prior regulation.

Step 4 of 4: result
STEP 04 / 04

Recommended instrument

guidance recommendation
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Rationale
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Legal basis
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Complementary instruments
    Next steps
      Note about the municipality
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      library of answers

      9 instruments evaluated.

      The wizard evaluates nine central instruments of Brazilian urban policy. Each responds to a different problem and almost always operates jointly with the others.

      PEUC
      Mandatory Subdivision, Building or Use
      Requires the owner of an idle urban property to give it a social function. Article 5 of the City Statute.
      PROGRESSIVE IPTU
      Progressive Property Tax over Time
      Rate grows year by year if the owner does not comply with the PEUC. Article 7 of the City Statute.
      EXPROPRIATION
      Sanction-expropriation paid in public debt bonds
      After five years of progressive IPTU without response, the municipality may expropriate. Article 8.
      OODC
      Charge for Additional Building Rights
      Allows building above the basic Floor Area Ratio in exchange for a counterpart contribution. Articles 28 to 31.
      OUC
      Consorted Urban Operation
      Transforms a specific perimeter with its own rules and CEPAC-based financing. Articles 32 to 34.
      ZEIS
      Special Zone of Social Interest
      Reserves an urban area for social interest housing. Article 4, V, item f.
      EIV
      Neighborhood Impact Study
      Assesses the effects of the development on the neighborhood. Articles 36 to 38.
      URBAN ADVERSE POSSESSION
      Special Urban Adverse Possession
      Peaceful possession of urban property of up to 250 m² for five years. Articles 9 to 14.
      REURB
      Urban Land Regularization
      Regularizes consolidated informal settlements, in the S (social) and E (specific) modalities. Law 13.465/2017.
      careful reading

      Limitations of this tool.

      The wizard is for guidance. It points to a likely direction based on few variables, but urban policy decisions usually combine more than one instrument and require multidisciplinary technical analysis: urbanism, law, public finance, land management, and social participation. Treat the result as the starting point of the conversation, not as a legal opinion.

      Each municipality operates within its own Master Plan and related local legislation. Before applying any suggested instrument, consult the Master Plan in force, verify the existence of a specific municipal law regulating it, and seek legal advice familiar with the local reality. Reurb, in particular, requires a complete land tenure project and coordination with the real estate registry.

      applied reading

      Cited in these Journal articles.

      URBANISM · 9min
      Instruments 9 min

      PIU, AIU, and OUC: three rulers for transforming an urban perimeter

      When each instrument applies and how to avoid mistaken overlap.

      GOVERNANCE · 6min
      Master Plan 6 min

      Expired Master Plan: what the municipality can and cannot do

      Without a Master Plan in force, several instruments of the City Statute are suspended.

      SERRA · 9min
      Legal Technique 9 min

      Subdividing land in the mountains: three rulers that must talk to each other

      Law 6.766/79, the Forest Code, and Reurb talking about the same raw land parcel.