The Planning Legislation project is creating the first comprehensive planning law for Qatar. This will also be the first comprehensive national planning law of any country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It will enhance the legitimacy and legal status of plans, planning policies and the development assessment process. The legislation will also add consistency and certainty for users of the planning system and the general public
Consultation with stakeholders during the project, including Ministries, developers and other agencies that MME regularly work with, revealed that communication during QNMP’s current plan-making and development review processes required improvement. The resulting legislation will help to improve and formalize these processes and increase clarity and transparency. It will also introduce public engagement in these processes. Furthermore, it will enable a formal development assessment appeals process.
Planning Legislation Functions
The project will result in 4 documents:
Legislation Components
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The central piece is the Primary Law which comprises the main body of the legislation. It is supported by the Executive Regulations, or Secondary Law which provides further detail on the individual clauses in the Primary Law. An Explanatory Guide will provide a simplified explanation of the Primary and Secondary Law which will be useful for both those involved in the development process and the general public. The final piece, the Procedural Guidance, will provide information on administrative processes for development review and plan-making. It will be of primary use to MME staff responsible for administering these processes.
The Primary and Secondary Laws have been approved by the Minister of MME and referred for review by the Council of Ministers. Following formal approval of the Legislation by the Council and His Highness the Emir, the Legislation will come into effect, and QNMP will then finalize the Explanatory Guide and Procedural Guidance.
A link to the Planning Legislation document will be provided here following its final approval.