DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA
NATION

RELIGION

KING

MINISTRY OF LAND MANAGEMENT, URBAN PLANNING

AND CONSTRUCTION

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT FOR URBAN MANAGEMENT

(CDTA 8121-CAM)

Briefing Paper For the

National Urban Development Strategy Framework
For the
Consultative Workshop on the Urban Development Framework,
Sihanoukville, December 3-5, 2014
DRAFT, October 28, 2014

Supported by ADB

Green Goal
1

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

Outline: This discussion paper consists of two parts:

Part A is introductory and explanatory; providing the background and policy context of the
long standing plan to develop a National Urban Development Strategy for Cambodia.
Part B is the draft outline policy framework that indicates the scope and contents of the future
National Urban Development Strategy. This is envisaged to be undertaken as a separate
external financed project, in 2015.
Note: the Executive Summary of the Urbanization Study undertaken by Pannasastra University
is provided in Annex 1to provide more information on the current situation

Part A
Background and Policy Context of the Plan for a National Urban
Development Strategy (NUDS) Framework
1. Introduction: Capacity Building in Urban Planning and Management
Capacity Building Project (ADB/MLMUPC)The Asian Development Bank-ADB using resources
from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction -JFPR has been supporting a Capacity
Development Technical Assistance-CDTA Project Capacity Development for Urban
Management (#8121) primarily aimed at building sub-national capacities for urban planning
and management at provincial and municipal authority levels. One of four objectives (#3) of
the CDTA project defines the work to be undertaken to begin preparing for a National Urban
Development Strategy (NUDS).
Within the present project, the consultants in close cooperation with the Ministry of Land
Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) are to pave the way for the
development of NUDS. This is likely to take the form of a separate project with external
funding (as yet uncommitted) to start in 2015.Preparatory work for the framework
development has been on-going since the beginning of the project in May 2013 consisting of
concept papers development, and several rounds of discussions with experts from the
MLMUPC for later review by the National Committee for Land Management and Urban
Planning (NCLMUP) after the consultative retreat. The key term used to describe the type of
output expected under Objective 3 of the CDTA is the framework of a NUDS. The following
draft framework (part B) is being tabled at the workshop/retreat in December2014 for
discussion to reach consensus on some of the substantive issues NUDS should cover and
address.
The justification for a consultative retreat emerged from a number of technical coordination
meetings of the CDTA project at MLMUPC (the last of which took place on September 18,
2014). It was agreed to discuss the proposed framework with a panel of national experts,
sector representatives and stakeholders in a conducive environment for discussions.
While evolving the framework to the strategy it will require an additional in-depth data
analysis, which will require the undertaking of comprehensive analytical studies to better
inform the formulation of the national policy/strategy paper in the required Royal
Governments concise format.
As the scope of the proposed NUDS should be relatively broad to include, the implications
of urban and rural growth, the linkages between the rural hinterland and urban centres of
various sizes, and other international linkages that are emerging through participation and
increasing connectivity of nations in the Association of South East Asian Nations - ASEAN and
Greater Mekong Sub-region - GMS as a basis of urban growth.

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

It will be important for the Strategy to contribute to the visions of cities and other emerging
and new urban centres, as well as to regional planning in Cambodia, as currently their
administrations require ongoing capacity building, guidance and good examples for their
planning and management activities. Some of these may come from a review of other urban
development strategies and their implementation in other countries (to identify better
practices, good examples, and other relevant issues and points) to contribute to the
knowledge base of the background paper to the strategy. The proposed outline framework
should conform to the preferred format of high-level government policies and strategies as it
will be reviewed by the Council of Ministers. Finally it has been agreed that the Framework for
discussion at the retreat workshop should be as complete as possible because it will be used
as a roadmap to formulate the fully-fledged national strategy.
Recent Research on Urbanization in Cambodia
ADB has also provided a separate research grant to facilitate the undertaking of an
urbanization study by a research team from Pannasastra University of Cambodia which was
completed in May 2014. The urbanization study used available recent statistics and showed
how the urban population is expected to grow from the current level of around 30% of the
total population (estimated to be 4.2 million people, in 2014) to 44% (8.1 mill) by 2030 and 52%
(10.3 mill) in 2040.
The study also emphasized the economic importance of the urban sector which was
estimated to constitute approximately 50% of total Gross National Product in2008,when the
generally accepted percentage of urban population was put at just 20%.Following the
Reclassification of Urban Population Centres after the National Population Census of 2008, the
updated urban percentage was estimated to be 27% in 2011.The study also provided useful
results to feed into discussions on national development direction. The study was successfully
presented and discussed at an ADB supported seminar in July 2014.The executive summary of
the urbanization study will be provided with the support documents in advance of the
Discussion Workshop.

2. Lessons Emerging from Urban Development Strategies in Other Countries

National Urban Development Strategies (NUDS) have been formulated by many developed
and developing countries over the last few decades, but many of these Strategies were
abandoned without much impact on actual development.
For this reason, more recently formulated National Urban Development Policies and
Strategies tend to be more limited in scope but more strategic in targeting the most
important determinants of urbanization. A number of lessons can be drawn from experiences
for the NUDS to be formulated for Cambodia and are reflected in the draft framework that is
presented in Part B.
Some typical subject areas (an indicative list but not a completelist) from other countries
urban development plans that may be relevant to the emerging NUDS for Cambodia are
summarised in Table 1.
Table 1: Issues of national urban development planning for consideration in Cambodia
Subject Areas

Summary Explanation

Inclusion of consideration of all areas (rural

and urban) in the urban development
strategy

To capture factors influencing and supporting the

urbanizing and there inter-relationship as well as
Conservation areas

Attention to the importance of rural-urban

linkages during the early stages of
urbanization

As rural-urban migration, processing of and sales of

raw materials often feeds or fuels the urbanisation
process

Understanding the forces of international

economic development across national
borders and dealing with the resulting

As countries are no longer isolated but are often

inter-dependent and linked together for mutual
benefit. Such linkages often require structural

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

Subject Areas
challenges. Such international forces tend
to be stronger than national policies and
regulations

Summary Explanation
changes as national standards and practices often
need to change to be competitive.

Special arrangements for metropolitan

areas and their planning and management

As some urban areas expand, they often exceed

their administrative boundaries requiring progressive
arrangements to better management growth and
development needs

Specific development programmes for

secondary cities (loans and grants for
infrastructure development, technical
assistance and training for the staff of
secondary cities) as well as to the private
sector (small and medium enterprises SMEs
in the rural setting) to support development

To mitigate the concentration of investments and

development in either primary capital or a limited
number of growth centres, Governments have often
supported investments secondary cities to be more
competitive by increasing the capacities of available
staff in the secondary cities to better plan and
manage their cities and surrounding supportive
areas.

Regional programmes for economic

incentives given to cities and/or private
investors for selected industrial sectors in
selected regions

Frequently government need to encourage the

distribution of commercial and industrial investment
for particularly sectors, which may require incentives
to relocate to alternative locations

Support programmes for co-financing

heritage conservation and monument sites
within cities and of agricultural, natural
landscape and wetland surrounding urban
areas

Where present authorities have included the

conservation/ preservation of historic areas, buildings
structures and landscapes and or their settings

State-funded support to cities with urban

renewal and regeneration problems

Urban renewal and regeneration of older and

dilapidated areas has often been found to be
successful, creating cultural quarters and enclaves
for micro, small and medium enterprises to operate
within and close to central commercial/business
districts.

Systems for criteria-based city classification

and periodic re-classification of local
authorities, including monitoring based on
administrative performance criteria

All settlements change over time many growing and

expanding, while some shrink. It is necessary to
periodically review urban and urbanising settlements

Incorporating a functional framework for

periodic monitoring and strategy
adjustment

Cambodia is an active member of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the evolving
national guidelines for spatial planning and urban development need to be
incorporated into NUDS. In particular, the GMS strategic framework1refers to economic
development corridors and urban centres of regional importance as much as areas for
2
environmental protection such as coastal areas and forested mountain areas .

4. The Policy Context in Cambodia

Background
Although Cambodia is considered at an early stage of urbanization, the changes driving
it are occurring at an unprecedented pace. The current phase of rapid urban
development amounts to a daunting challenge. The original MLMUPC concept
note/discussion paper developed for the National Urban Development Strategy-NUDS
is a brief outline document(six pages in length) but no further work has been undertaken
on it since 2010.The Ministry (MLMUPC) has always emphasized the need for completing
1

ADB (2012) The Greater Mekong Sub-region Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework.
ADB (November 2012) Regional Investment Sector Report, Urban Development Strategy Paper, Manila,

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

a policy for guiding national urbanization and a national strategy for urban
development must be grounded on solid research work. That can be challenging
because it must connect various often divergent development sectors as well as
encouraging and supporting public and private participation and investment, which
may not be sufficiently considered in routine government planning.
Furthermore, the realities of future socio-economic and spatial development in
Cambodia must be linked with and take consideration of evolving major development
trends in the Southeast Asian Region (GMS, ASEAN and beyond) to be competitive
because of its relative small size. Cambodias development is often driven by and
influenced by international development trends as most countries are, and sometimes
even more so than by its own government policies.
There is a sufficient and growing body of evidence and data available for the research
work required to support the development of the national urban development policy and
related strategy, building on the findings and projections from the national population
census of 2008 and the inter-censual population survey (CIPS) of 2013 and other sources. An
analysis of available and new data on urbanization was utilised in the recent Urbanization
Study but it is both necessary and possible to undertake more in-depth analytical studies
needed to support a solid National Urban Development Strategy.
Policies and Laws Pertaining to Urban Development
The Royal Governments Rectangular Strategy and the recently updated National Strategic
Development Plan 2014-2018 outline some of progressive goals and achievement influencing
urban development in Cambodia. The current and future national policies strategies and
plans will be crucial in giving and expressing overall direction and guidance for NUDS.
Cambodia has also evolved an impressive legislative body of policies and laws that could
either implicitly or explicitly contributing to good urban development. It will be necessary to
review and incorporate the evolving changes and additions to the policy environment for
urban development and its major components such as land, housing the environment
including climate resilience and the ongoing decentralisation and deconcentration reforms.
These will be effectively considered and incorporated in the fully fledged NUDS. Some of the
key government documents available include the eleven documents summarised in Table 2.
Table 2: The most relevant policy documents and laws pertaining to urbanisation
#

Documents

1
2
3
4
5
6

The Rectangular Strategy (RS)-phase III

National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2014-2018
Declaration of the National Government on Land Policy
Strategy of Land Policy Framework
National Policy on Spatial Planning
Spatial Planning Handbook: Provincial Spatial Planning

7
8
9
10

National Housing Policy

Land law
Law on Land Management and Urban Planning (DRAFT)
Circular on the Development of Coastal Areas in the Kingdom of Cambodia
and associated Framework Plan
Industrial Development Policy (IDP)
The National Policy and Strategic Plan for Green Growth2013-2030

11
12

Date
Update, 2013
17 July 2014
2009
2002
2011
2013
2014
2001
Draft, 2014
2013
2010
2013

5. The Conceptual Framework for the National Urban Development Strategy

NUDS
The development of National Urban Development Policy and Strategy should now be viewed
in terms of the evolving policies framework which has developed in Cambodia over the last
ten years. It is becoming increasingly critical to develop a more effective and focused

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

national strategy to deal with urban challenges and development that are outlined in the
draft framework in Part B. Conceptually, a NUDS connects analytical knowledge, vision, and
actions, generally incorporating the following five components and their logical linkages:
(1) Knowledge and learning about past and present conditions; gainedby observations
and analysis of trends in quantitative terms but also in clearly understood qualitative
terms,
(2) Based on this knowledge, project major determinants into the medium to long-term
future, proceeding from short term (5 years) to medium to the longer term (up to 30
years). Projections should typically include two or more scenarios related to the basic
assumptions on core parameters such as; demographic growth, national policies,
foreign direct investments, regional factors and cooperation affecting urban
development and economic growth in Cambodia;
(3) Incorporate the Governments vision and principles based on the constitution and
other fundamental documents of government policies, and
(4) Develop and express Policy declarations and development strategies for dealing with
the challenges of (all) those major changes that come with increasing urbanization.
(5) To make the policy and strategy operational for future reviews and revisions, there must
also be effective regular monitoring. Without that, the implementation and updating of
the strategies is impossible.
For any long-term policy and strategy statements for a dynamic field such as urbanization,
there is a high probability that the actual conditions in 10-15 years will differ from those that
may have been predicted at the time of drafting the NUDS. For this reason, NUDS should
include a framework for monitoring the changing development conditions, coupled with a
periodic review of policies, strategies, and programmes.
Any urban development policy or strategy must combine qualities of being (i) a vision of the
future to be strived for, and(ii) providing guidance and direction for further planning and
implementation. However, owing to the complexities of this combination, any long-term
policy tends to be more visionary (in showing what the future would be like) than realistic (in
estimates as to the costs of the future improvements, and the feasibility of funding such
improvements within the next 20-30 years). Therefore, any long-term strategy requires revising
from time to time to better compare and adjust to the long-term ideas of the original
documents and emerging development perspectives.
Given the speed of change, the government would need to plan to review the NUDS at
regular five-year intervals. This might be coordinated with the five-year periods of national
planning. The conceptual framework is further elaborated in the draft policy paper in Part B.

6. Likely Process for Moving from Conceptual Ideas to Approved Strategy

At the present time, the future national urban development strategy is emerging from an
existing concept note as well as a set of ideas and intentions contributed and or voiced by
stakeholders in government, civil society and elsewhere. What needs to be achieved is an
established and thoroughly reviewed and consulted policy document acceptable and
adopted by the Government.

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

Part B:-The Proposed Framework for the National Urban Development

Strategy
Introduction
Part A outlined the justification for preparing a National Urban Development Strategy, the work to
be accomplished is likely to consist of two documents, i.e. an analytical study(ies) supporting the
development of the actual Policy/ Strategy, and the Policy itself, as a concise declaration of the
Governments policy for urban development. For the Policy document, thecurrent standard outline
of the Royal Government is adopted (for example, the National Policy on Spatial Planning,
adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2011). In terms of the National Urban Development
Strategy it is proposed that this will follow the following framework, and it is what we wish to discuss
and reach consensus on at the workshop/ retreat.
1. The Challenges and the Policy Context of Urban Development
This introductory section should serve to frame the multi-disciplinary field and cross sectoral linkages
involved in urban development, in the perspective of overall national development (NSDP) and the
contribution urbanisation can make toward this. By the long-term future (post 2030), it is likely that at
least 50% or more of the national population will likely be living in urban areas, and the vast majority
of non-agricultural economic development will take place in or around the cities, urban centre
and border towns.
Explanation

Some of the Key Challenges Identified

Cambodia is at an early stage of

economic and demographic
transformation from an agrarian to a
mixed industrial/agricultural/services
economy and society.

The current pace of urbanisation is likely either to

remain the same or increase as opportunities for
economic improvement and employment emerge
or become available in urban areas. These
opportunities will likely (significantly) exceed the
earning opportunities/ potential in rural areas,
which for many will remain or perpetuate
subsistence livelihoods which may push individuals
to consider migrating to urban areas

Rapid urban growth, ahead of economic

growth

Employment and other opportunities will continue

or increase the pull of urban areas and particularly
Phnom Penh and its metropolitan area. As current
concentrations of industrial investments and
opportunities continue. Greater efforts will need to
be made to disperse the economic benefits from
industrial and other concentration in urban areas
and the capital city, as increasing inequity has
been identified as an issue.

Uneven distribution of urban growth

(currently concentrated on Phnom Penh
and its vicinity, some concentration in the
Northwest, but almost no urban growth in
the Northeast and in the coastal area)
The well-known historical concentration
of population in Cambodia (90% of the
population on 40% of territory) is likely to
be reinforced by urbanization although
urban-based industries do not necessarily
have to follow the distribution of
agricultural resources(See map Annex 1)
While considerable poverty reduction has
been achieved it appears to conceal the
fact that a significant portion of the

The lack of managed growth and development

has resulted in an uneven distribution of
development and wealth with an over
concentration in the capital. Efforts needed in the
future to encourage more balanced development
Historic developments and conflict in the past have
resulted in an over concentration of the populace
around long established transport routes and safer
agricultural production areas.
While absolute poverty has been decreasing there
remain persistent pockets of poor communities that
need to be targeted to improve the livelihoods

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

Explanation

Some of the Key Challenges Identified

population are only slightly above the
poverty line and should be considered as
vulnerable; they are therefore in danger
of falling back into real poverty (rural and
urban) if any crisis occurs

and situation of resident families. In terms of low

income families in urban areas, securing their
tenure and encouraging upgrading have been
shown to be effective.

Urban development and housing policies

should explicitly include poverty
alleviation as one of the main objectives

Infrastructure, housing and social policies need to

better address and target issues related to poverty
and vulnerability to alleviate or reduce the risks of
remaining poor and vulnerable.

The distribution and quality of settlement

infrastructure (water supply, wastewater
treatment, solid waste collection and
others) is heavily biased as the conditions
in Phnom Penh are much better than
those in smaller cities and rural towns

Urban environmental issues are becoming

increasing evident in other cities and urban
settlement across the country, which need to be
addressed through investments in appropriate,
innovative and cost effective technologies to
reduce the adverse impacts of pollutants on urban
residents and the environment.

Present city size distribution shows a

considerable gap between the capital
city, the few larger cities (Battambang,
Siem Reap, Sihanoukville), and the small
provincial towns

Currently unmanaged urban expansion has

resulted in low density and dispersed urban
settlements that are increasingly costly to services.
There is a need to consider approaches to
encourage smart growth, compact cities and
urban centre with smaller footprints and lower
requisite infrastructure investment costs.

The distribution of new industrial and

service-sector work places is similarly
biased and difficult to correct in the
medium-term future we will provide maps
only in the PPT introducing the NUDS
framework

The high concentration of industrial areas around

the capital and road to it, limits the opportunities
and economic impacts of industrialisation.
Government may need to consider mechanisms to
encourage greater disbursement of industrial and
economic development zones.

The challenges and issues with

urbanisation are as yet not fully
recognized and prioritized by many
government agencies, nor donors.

Because of the lack of an urbanisation policy,

strategy and agenda, decision makers have not as
yet recognised the importance and value of
prioritising and focusing a greater portion of
investments on urban areas bearing in mind the
continued objective of poverty reduction which is
increasingly in more remote rural areas and harder
to find pockets of poor households.

Climate Resilience is a requirement for

modern urban development to be
included in the NUDS for Cambodia

All urban centres are significant sources of carbon

dioxide and other greenhouse gases as well as
major consumers of energy, efforts need to be
made to encourage and support carbon neutral
and climate resilience urban development.

2. Vision
A long-term consensual vision needs to be formulated to provide a perspective encompassing a
30-year future. This should then be used to formulate a medium-term strategy (covering the next 1015 years), i.e. showing how urban development is embedded in the overall government policy
framework.
The vision stated for the National Policy on Spatial Planning is worth quoting in this regard because
the NUDS vision refers to similar concepts: The entire territory shall be used, organized, developed
and protected by integrative, strategic territorial planning and the harmonization of regionally
significant instruments and measures (National Policy on Spatial Planning, p. 3). The vision

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

statement may also add a short paragraph on the governments commitment to poverty
alleviation, with an emphasis on poverty reducing measures in the growing cities and towns.
A Vision starting point (for discussion) could be:
Cities and urban centres throughout the country are continuously well developed, in a
climate resilient manner. Providing economic opportunities, maintaining a good
environment and quality of services, which better serve the resident populations and
those in surrounding areas and the country. Thereby creating liveable cities and towns
contributing to poverty reduction, livelihood and welfare improvements, economic
growth and sustainable national urban development.

3. Goals and Objectives

The policy/ strategy will have components of an analytical nature (especially the work which will
be produced for the background studies), which will provide an evidence based approach for the
strategy. While its directives and guidelines will define good professional planning practices, as well
as mandatory definitions and minimal requirements for sub-national level plans. In both respects,
the NUDS will refer to and follow and elaborate the national policies and laws on urban and
regional planning and national development.
Developed objectives will need to refer to key areas including (additional areas need to be
identified; current list is not in a ranked order):
Sustainable Development,
Including Urban Environmental Management

Socially Inclusive and Equitable Development,

Sustainable Transport
Spatial, Housing and Commercial/ Industrial
Development

Sound and Balanced Utilization of Land &

Natural Resources.
Urban Climate Resilience (adaptation and
mitigation)
Economic Development
The possibility of establishing new urban centres
in rural areas

Constituent subject areas to be covered by the policy document

This will be the longest section of the strategy document. It must incorporate, addressand
harmonize the following major aspects of urban development (with more points likely added as a
result of the consultation workshop). The division of this tentative list of subject areas into major
blocks (A to H) indicates the overriding concerns that need to be reconciled within the urban
development policy and strategy:

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

Main Points
(other to be identified and elaborated)

A - Administrative definitions with important

ramifications for political development, taxation,
and physical planning:

Definition of urban in functional and administrative terms, as more and more areas are delineated and
included in national and provincial statistics. The administrative definition also provides the legal basis for
changes in political and administrative organization, taxation, and physical planning that are associated
with the classification of rural-urban jurisdictions.
Periodic classification and re-classification of urban jurisdictions as towns and cities with different
levels of municipal administration and government. The current number of municipalities (27) is likely to
grow over the next 10-15 years.
Currently Cambodia has more than 40 potential urban centre meeting most of the urban classification
criteria3 without being listed as municipalities. Many of these will have to be considered for re-classification
and promoted to be municipalities in the next few years.
Secondary cities: Several cities with well over 100,000 inhabitants could be classified as secondary cities,
i.e. having a greater development potential than other municipalities. The main criteria for identifying
secondary cities for policy making are population size and growth potential, economic potential
(specific types of industries and services), and location far enough away from the capital region.

B - Typology of urban centres, to be translated

into strategies for various types of cities (including
consideration given to new growth
centres/locations of the rural and urban setting):

The secondary cities have potentials to serve as alternative locations to the capital so as to deconcentrate ongoing industrial investments and thus lead to a more balanced population distribution.
Currently, the best candidates for secondary cities policies are Siem Reap, Battambang, Sihanoukville, and
possibly, Serei Sisophon.
Policies for smaller and intermediate towns (tertiary centres), to develop them into better-functioning
urban centres and for the provision of higher-levels of services (education, health, commerce, and
administration for rural areas and their development.

C - The importance of rural-urban transition and

the need to translate rural-urban linkages into
policies and strategies for developing the less

Consideration of establishing new urban areas in rural setting in the country to encourage growth and the
programmes to encourage SMEs to location in these
Regional spatial reference framework including rural-urban linkages;
Consideration is needed

In economic and social terms across the rural hinterland of towns, and peri-urban areas
surrounding them to ensure that a balance is achieved between maximising the potential of

The method utilised for urban reclassification is based on: a population density exceeded 200 per square kilometre; the percentage of people (female and male) employed in
agriculture is below 50 per cent, and the total population of the commune exceeds 2,000 people.

10

DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

urbanized regions:

available land and the opportunity cost of alternative uses.

Of development poles, corridors, border areas, smaller and larger urban centres (tertiary towns),
hubs (for example, port cities) as well as for new urban areas development, etc.

Special support policies for small and intermediate towns: Under the heading of rural-urban linkages or as
a separate item. There is likely a need to focus additional broad ranging hardware (infrastructure) and
software (capacity development) inputs at smaller and emerging urban centres to enable them to better
cope with urbanisation pressures and

D - An organized set of local, regional, and

national plans for managing the entire territory:

The urban planning system and its instruments:

With regard to the Nation Spatial Planning Policy and the Organic Law, the NUDS should contribute to
existing and evolving system for master plans and specific plans as they are drafted and implemented at
various levels of government. In the future, all of them must refer to the NUDS as an overriding tool for
coordinating national and local goals and objectives.
Both the spatial/environmental framework and the administrative structure (regions, provinces, local
administration areas such as communes and sangkat as well as khan, municipality, and district) would
form the basis for a hierarchy of planning which may require further developments in planning legislation.
Clearly defined roles of local authorities and national agencies refer to D&D and Rectangular Strategy

E - Supra-national and regional development

planning and cooperation requirements and
factors (including planning coordination between
neighbouring regions/cities and distribution of
employment and population):

Broad conceptual division of the national territory into development areas (industrial and urban
settlements) and protection areas (nature reservations, national parks, and other areas for biodiversity
protection as well as for heritage and cultural conservation).The coastal areas would require special
attention to balance the competing interests in resource exploitation (oil and gas reserves under the
seabed), industrial and urban settlements (port cities and industrial complexes), as well as recreation and
nature protection areas.
Some consideration of new urban centres that may be create as well as population and employment
distribution.
Regionalization for analysis and policy purposes: The present system of five to six statistical regions may
need to be re-formulated as a system of more appropriate planning regions. Likely proposal for adjustment
of planning regions Metropolitan Phnom Penh, border regions, planning regions defined geographic,
economic, and administrative criteria. There will also be a need to encourage and support sub-national
regional cooperation between cities and urban areas for their mutual benefit.

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DRAFT NUDS FRAMEWORK CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP, DECEMBER 2014

The macro-regional development framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and ASEAN..
Where urban development across national boundaries is now handled by a special Urban Taskforce under
the GMS ministerial conference. (References: GMS Urban Strategy Paper Task Force in all six GMS countries
appointed and working). Further reference maybe needed to the policies of the future ASEAN Economic
Association (AEM) will be useful in this respect.
The national housing policy is likely to be an important component of the urban development framework
which will regulate and facilitates the processes of upgrading of informal settlements (rather than their
eradication on the grounds of their being illegal encroachments of public or private land).

F - Major sectoral policies to be harmonized with

urban development land, green growth and
housing:

National land policies: Improved land tenure through property titling may need further refinement, as
significant increases in values due to urban expansion are not being captures by the state as a capital
gains. Increased opportunities for local taxation to contribute to revenues available to sub-national
administration may need to be considered in which land conversions and changes of use significantly
increase the values, some of which may need to be captured by local authorities
The National Green Growth Policy Strategy, the government has adopted Green Growth policies in 2013 as
a fundamental means to sustainable development and aspects of this policy need to be adapted and
incorporated to NUDS. Also consideration of the 3E approach (economy, environment and equity)
Coordination with National Transportation Planning and Urban Development, The majority of current
transport routes transit the urban centres in the country and as these grow traffic transiting traffic will take
longer to get to their destinations which will need to be monitor and possible alternative routes developed.
Additionally some urban centres are dispersed requiring motorised traffic to get around which is
excessively wasteful of energy and resources. Compact cities and town concepts as well as public
transport approaches for smaller towns need to be explored.

G - Special factors influencing urban

development and local development (and
national interest on desired location for planning,
example North and Western parts):

Potential impact of gas/oil exploitation and other extractive Industries on industrial and urban
development: (to be discussed should this be introduce to the NUDS? As the benefits/revenues of resource
exploitation may not be realized within the time frame of the NUDS and could be too speculative See
Urbanization Study in this respect) Oil and gas development in the Gulf of Cambodia or other mineral
extractions industries could transform the entire coastal area and or other parts of the country with major
industries in existing and new coastal centres, such as Sihanoukville or elsewhere in the country.

Additionally other factors arising from industrial technological advancement and shifting
international investments in industries namely the continued shifts of demand for labour from higherwage countries to Cambodia (or later on, possibly from Cambodia to other countries with lower
wages) may need to be considered.

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H - Investment Requirements and sources

(development, financing etc..)

I - Operationalizing the urban development

policies and strategies:

The strategy should also begin to layout the types and indicative levels of investment required to deliver
growing urbanisation in a sustainable manner as well as the possibly sources of urban financing. As
delayed investment will likely have potential social economic costs to the country and its regional and
global competitiveness
Administrative responsibility for compliance with the urban development policies: Which ministry or group
of Ministries should lead? MLMUPC or will this be left to the National Committee on Land Management and
Urban Planning to guide this. Bearing in mind the evolving deconcentration and decentralisation reform
and the growing needs for transparency and accountability in and of decision made, and in terms of
urban governance
Periodic monitoring of urban development by an appropriate government institution: The monitoring
system should be built into the urban development policy; this requires both a clear-cut system of
indicators for measuring changes over time, and an institution which is mandated and capable of
undertaking periodic monitoring work in an objective manner.
Possible reference: National Institute of Statistics and possible indicators to be used in this context.
Possible indicators may include (tentative list):

Employment in key sectors (industry by type, commerce, and services)

Location quotients for key economic sectors in the 20 largest cities and towns

Urban/rural population distribution / ratio by provinces and planning region

Poverty ratios by planning region (urban vs. rural ratios)

Indicators on educational attainment and public health by planning region (urban and rural)

Indicators of population growth by planning region and for key urban centers

Indicators of environmental pollution

UN-Habitats composite City Development Index (CDI) (which incorporates consideration of five
factors (i) infrastructure, (ii) waste management, (iii)health,(iv) education and (v)urban
production).
Consideration of the proposed Sustainable Development Goals SDGs, specifically #11Make cities
and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and the ten proposed targets for
this.
This list is indicative and needs to be considered in cooperation with the National Institute of Statistics

This list of aspects to be covered by a fully-fledged NUDS is not exhaustive but indicative. It is important to incorporate the cross cutting nature of
urban development and its impact on land, natural resources, and social organization.

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4. Implementation Mechanisms
The nature of a NUDS should be closer to guidance on principles and good practices than to
setting targets as in an economic development strategy. The implementation of the NUDS
will take place through the more detailed plans and policies at the capital provincial and
municipal levels. In addition, the sector policies and strategies should be framed with specific
reference to the NUDS.
This principle of sector coordination should concern all relevant ministries plans and
programmes for road infrastructure, water supply, waste water treatment, energy generation
and distribution, environmental protection and other concerns for sustainable development
and the management of socio-economic and physical environments throughout the
country. This section will need to include specific references to the evolving plans, policies,
and programmes concerned.
5. Monitoring and Amendments of this Policy
The penultimate section of the policy statement would make provisions for the monitoring
and periodic amendments that are required for any national policy. This would be a more
appropriate term to appear in this last section because conclusions would not normally be
stated as part of the policy document.

It will be necessary to identify a short list of sector performance indicators which

should be objectively monitored, refer to the indicative list in the table above.

6. Government Declaration
To close out the document their will likely be a declaration by the Government

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