Department of regional and local development

Regional planning is one of the important scientific methods that are used in planning for sustainable development to achieve a degree of balance in the distribution of various projects and economic, social and urban investments among the governorates of Iraq, as it focuses on the spatial dimensions of the development process for different sectors (agricultural / industrial / transportation, buildings and services) through Striving to achieve economic efficiency in signing development projects in the governorates according to comparative advantage, as well as achieving social justice in providing basic services in accordance with planning standards for the distribution of services.

  1. The Department of Regional and Local Development exercises tasks related to the spatial dimensions of the development process for the various economic sectors and for the public and private sectors. The tasks can be summarized as follows:
  2. Reducing the discrepancy between the governorates (balanced spatial development).
  3. Focusing on economic and urban development in underdeveloped areas.
  4. Continue projecting development indicators for all governorates using GIS techniques and in coordination with the Information Systems Center (GIS) at the Central Statistical Organization.
  5. Continuing to update the development database for all governorates.
  6. Continuing to evaluate the pattern of spatial and sectoral distribution within the investment curriculum of the plans.
  7. Building an urban system for the sizes of Iraqi cities in cooperation and coordination with the relevant authorities.
  8. Continue to implement the development strategies for the governorates.
  9. Continuing to express opinion and advice on everything presented to the department in the field of spatial development, sustainable development, local planning and other areas.
  10. Putting strategies and policies for spatial development in its overall and sectoral dimensions within the spatial development plan.
  11. Preparing urban and rural development strategies and policies.
  12. Locating all development projects, in coordination with the concerned authorities, through the Land Allocation Committee for Development and Investment Projects at the Ministry of State for Provincial Affairs.
  13. Setting the overall and sectoral development priorities spatially at the governorate level as a guide for distributing investments to achieve the goals of development plans in general and spatial planning in particular for the purpose of reducing developmental disparities between governorates on the one hand and between urban and rural areas on the other.
  14. Evaluating the reality of the spatial development pattern at the overall and sectoral level, and marking the least developed areas at the level of Iraq.
  15. Diagnosing the developmental potentials and determinants in Iraq and the comparative advantages for the purpose of development for each governorate and proposing development axes and the pattern of development in these axes
  16. A study of the urban system in Iraq and the potential of spatial development plans in correcting the distribution structure of human settlements, especially major cities.
  17. Checking the structural plans for the governorates, whose preparation lies with the Directorate of Urban Planning in the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, which determines the pattern of land uses at the governorate level and in light of the spatial development strategies set by the Regional and Local Development Department in the Ministry of Planning.
  18. Drawing development directions for areas of specificity or specific problems, such as mountainous areas, various valleys, or marsh areas.
  19. Securing sustainable development goals by adopting the principles and standards available when preparing development plans and participating in national and regional activities and events in the field of sustainable development.
  20. Studying and evaluating new industrial areas, complexes and cities
  21. The department is following up the strategic studies for the spatial development of all the governorates of Iraq, in cooperation with the planning units in the governorates

The Regional and Local Development Department consists of the following sections

1- Regional Land Uses Section

Department tasks:

1-1 : Studying and expressing a planning opinion on the sites of new projects for the various economic, social and urban sectors and for the public and private sectors, which are received from the various ministries through the committee for allocating the sites of development and investment projects, which include the following aspects:

  • Studying and expressing the planning opinion on the expansion of the basic designs of cities and towns (districts and sub-districts) in the field of city sizes and their economic and social functions according to the national development strategy.
  • Studying and expressing planning opinion on village sites according to rural development controls and strategies, as well as other agricultural sites, including the establishment of extension farms.
  • Studying and expressing the planning opinion on the locations of the main and secondary power stations and their distribution in the governorates of Iraq.
  • Studying and expressing the planning opinion on the locations of the types of industrial factories in the governorates of Iraq.
  • Studying and expressing the planning opinion of the various new service sites in the governorates of Iraq.
  • Follow-up the decisions of the committee to allocate sites for development and investment projects for approved and unapproved projects.
  • Studying sites designated for investment in the provinces of Iraq and for various fields. As securing investment areas is considered one of the most successful means for developing the provinces, encouraging the private sector and attracting foreign investment.

1-2 : Expressing an opinion on the spatial dimensions of the annual investment curriculum at the level of the governorates of Iraq and for the various sectors.

1-3 : Studying and expressing an opinion on matters related to spatial development, as requested by the relevant authorities.

1-4 : Preparing studies and research in various areas of spatial planning and for various sectors.

1-5 : Participation in the project to support the private sector to find sites for industrial zones in Basra and Erbil with the World Bank.

1-6 : Evaluation of studies for the structural plans of the governorates that are prepared by the Directorate of Urban Planning in the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works.

2. Department of Regional and Local Development Policies

Department tasks:

The department deals with the spatial dimensions of the development process in order to achieve a degree of balance in the distribution of various economic, social and service projects and investments, through the following:

  • Develop strategies and policies for overall and sectoral spatial development within the national development plans. Prepare strategies and policies for urban and rural development in Iraq.
  • Evaluate the reality of the spatial development pattern at the overall and sectoral level and the impact of the less developed regions on the level of Iraq.
  • Setting the overall and sectoral development priorities spatially at the governorate level as a guide for the distribution of investments to achieve the goals of development plans in general and spatial planning in particular.
  • A study of the urban system in Iraq and the potential of spatial development plans in correcting the distribution structure of human settlements, especially major cities.
  • Preparing studies and research related to spatial development in particular and sustainable development in general.

3- Department of Sustainable Development

The department undertakes the following tasks:-

  • Identify environmental problems that have an environmental impact on the economic and social dimensions of development processes
  • Follow up the development of the concept of sustainable development internationally and benefit from the most prominent practices in this field and reflect them on the national experience
  • Checking the extent to which the environmental dimension has been integrated into projects approved within the national development plan and investment programs.
  • Preparing and implementing studies, research and working papers related to the concept and applications of sustainable development
  • Participate in committees related to sustainable development

Division of Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS):

Department tasks:

  • Building and developing a geographic information system for spatial planning and development purposes
  • Marking approved project sites on the basic maps of land uses in the governorates
  • Automating the data provided at the sites of the approved development projects and maintaining the relevant database.

4. Local Planning Department

There are many levels of national and regional planning for spatial development. And with the progress of the planning process in Iraq and the endeavor to activate decentralization trends in local development and build the capacities of local governments in the governorates, districts and sub-districts affiliated to them, The Ministry of Planning sought to support the process of local development and encourage decentralized management of local development through the opening and creation of local planning directorates in the governorates to find consistent mechanisms for integration and coordination between levels of planning at the national and local levels and effective communication between local governments and the Ministry of Planning.

According to Ministerial Order No. 52 of 11/8/2008 issued by the Minister’s Office, the Local Planning Department undertakes the following tasks:

  • Putting strategies and patterns of local development at the level of the governorates and their administrative components.
  • Coordinating and following up the affairs of the planning directorates in the governorates.
  • Contribute to the preparation of the provincial development program, in coordination with the competent technical departments in the ministry and the competent authorities in the provinces.
  • Coordinating efforts with the technical departments in the ministry, especially the sectoral departments and the government investment department, in everything related to the tasks of the Ministry of Planning in the governorates.
  • Preparing studies and working papers related to developing the experience of local governance and decentralized management of development in Iraq.
  • And in implementation of these tasks and objectives and in conjunction with them, the tasks and work mechanisms of the planning directorates have been formulated according to the memorandum of our department numbered 4/6/2/199 on 10/7/2008 and signed by the Technical Undersecretary, and it includes the goals and tasks of the directorates’ work. And based on the instructions of the State Shura Council Which was published in Al-Waqa’i Al-Iraqiya Newspaper, Issue No. 4239 on May 21, 2012. The Local Planning Department undertakes the following tasks:-
  • Preparing studies and working papers related to developing the experience of local governance and decentralized management of development in Iraq.
  • Coordinating with the Sectors Planning Department regarding the spatial distribution of investments in line with the overall and sectoral development policies.
  • Coordinating efforts with the technical departments in the ministry, in particular the Sector Planning Department and the Government Investment Programs Department, in everything related to planning tasks in the governorates.

Firstly: Objectives:

  1. The Ministry aims to form planning directorates at the governorate level to provide support and technical support for the success of the local government experiment and to reinforce the principle of decentralization of development management in Iraq through:
  2. Transferring the aspirations and desires of the authorities and the local population to the central authorities responsible for development and reflecting these desires and aspirations in the form of development projects within the national development plans and programs.
  3. Transferring the central development orientation of each governorate to the local authorities in order to help direct the governorates properly and achieve integration in the view between the local plan and the central plan in order to achieve an acceptable spatial budget for development, which is the main goal of regional planning.
  4. secondly: mission:
  5. Building an information base at the governorate level, in coordination with the concerned governorate statistics directorate, other official agencies in the governorate, non-governmental organizations, all economic, social and service sectors, and the environmental reality in the governorate.
  6. Diagnosing the determinants, developmental potentials, available resources and comparative advantages of the governorate.
  7. Preparing studies and reports on everything related to development at the level of the governorate, its administrative units, cities and villages, and the countryside of the governorate with the aim of extracting development indicators in the governorate and marking the developed and less developed areas at the level of the governorate and between urban and rural areas in the governorate and comparing them with the general rates of Iraq or even international indicators.
  8. Preparing maps, plans and schematics of land uses at the level of the governorate and its administrative units.
  9. Suggest development directions at the level of the governorate and its administrative units, taking into account the capabilities and comparative advantages of the governorate.
  10. Participate in the preparation and discussion of project proposals within the regions development plan (governorates) with the relevant authorities in the governorate and later with the competent technical departments in the ministry in a manner that ensures the selection of priority projects for the needs of the governorate.
  11. Contribute to the follow-up of the implementation of projects, whether they are within the investment program of the ministries or within the regions development program, in coordination with the competent sectoral departments in the ministry.
  12. Following up and coordinating the various affairs of the ministry at the governorate level to be a link between the ministry and its technical departments and the local authorities in the governorate as well as the citizens to facilitate the provision of the ministry’s services to the governorates and their citizens in everything related to the tasks and specializations of the ministry and that this is done based on ministerial orders from His Excellency the Minister.
  13. Achieving integration and coordination between the neighboring planning directorates in proposing directions and patterns of spatial development in them, especially with regard to projects whose effects exceed the local borders of a particular governorate.
  14. Planning directorates in the governorates associated with the local planning department
  15. In light of this, a work program was issued with the tasks of the planning directorates and based on the letter of the Regional Planning Department No. 4/6/9196 on 11/8/2008 and signed by His Excellency the Minister and directed to the planning directorates and the offices of the governors and heads of the provincial councils, with the aim of achieving communication and coordination between the Ministry of Planning And local administrations in the governorates, activating the mechanisms of local government work, and enhancing integration between centralization and decentralization in planning, Referring to the deliberations that took place with many representatives of the planning directorates in the governorates, with the aim of starting the actual work of these directorates, The main tasks of the planning directorates have been identified:
  16. Preparing a basic map for the governorate that includes the administrative units constituting the governorate and the spatial development potentials therein.
  17. Start collecting information and data on the various economic, social, environmental and urban aspects in the governorate and try to analyze them and project them on the master map. The data sources should be from the statistical directorates in the governorates. Technical and municipal departments in the province, The governorate, the governorate council and its affiliated administrative units.
  18. Determining the most prominent problems that the governorate and its administrative units suffer from in the light of the data and information referred to above, and through meeting with local officials in the governorate’s departments and councils at their various levels.
  19. Proposing projects of an urgent local nature for the governorate and contributing to the discussion of the proposals of the governorates and their councils for the regional development plan.
  20. Participate with the technical follow-up teams for the projects formed in the ministry to follow up the regional development projects and the investment program projects.
  21. Participate in any local development activity in the governorate that helps in developing the regions and creating suitable climates for investment in the governorate and its administrative units.

Another book No. 4/6/4465 was issued on 11/4/2009 from our department with the signature of Mr. Undersecretary, and to continue activating the performance of the planning directorates by carrying out the following tasks:

  • Continuing the process of preparing the development reality for the governorates and the continuous updating of the database carried out by the planning directorates.
  • Preparing a basic map for the governorate that includes the administrative units constituting the governorate and defining the basic land uses therein at the level of districts and sub-districts.
  • Develop strategies and policies for development to serve as a general framework in the province at the level of urban, rural and administrative units, in coordination with the departments of the province.
  • Continuing to participate with the technical follow-up teams for the projects formed in the ministry to follow up the regional development projects and the investment program projects.
  • Contribute to the preparation of the regional development program for the year 2010 in coordination with the technical departments in the ministry.
  • Follow up on private sector support affairs and work with the Development Fund in this field.
  • Studying the investment project sites and signing the related documents in coordination with the urban planning directorates and other departments in the governorate.
  • To submit progress reports on the paragraphs.
  • Participate in any local development activity in the governorate that helps in developing the regions and creating suitable climates for investment in the governorate and its administrative units.
  • And based on the instructions of the State Shura Council, which were published in the Iraqi Al-Waqa’i newspaper, Issue 4239 on May 21, 2012. The planning directorates in the governorates are each at the level of a department and are linked to the general director. Each directorate in the governorate undertakes the following tasks:
  • Continuous updating of the spatial database at the level of the governorate and administrative units.
  • Preparing a basic map for the governorate that includes the administrative units constituting the governorate and defining the basic land uses therein at the level of districts and sub-districts.
  • Proposing local spatial development policies for each governorate in all sectors in the light of indicators of development reality, potentials, determinants and comparative advantage for each governorate.
  • Propose strategies and policies for spatial development at the governorate level to be a general framework in preserving the environment and administrative units in coordination with the governorate departments.
  • Participate with the technical follow-up teams for the projects formed in the ministry to follow up the regional development projects and the investment program projects.
  • Submitting periodic reports (monthly and quarterly) to the department indicating the most prominent achievements of the directorate and the problems and obstacles it faces.
  • Participate in the preparation and discussion of project proposals within the regions plan for the governorates that are not organized in a region with the relevant authorities in the governorate and later with the competent technical departments in the ministry in a manner that ensures the selection of priority projects for the needs of the governorate.
  • Coordinating with the planning directorates in the neighboring governorates in order to reach the best results in determining the comparative advantages of these governorates and dividing the work between them accordingly.
  • Contribute to the discussions of the annual plan in the Sectors Planning Department for the projects of the region and the governorate that are not organized in a region.
  • Express opinion and advice regarding projects implemented by the provinces and regions
  • Achievements of the local planning department and the planning directorates in the governorates

Despite the difficulty of the work and the many problems and obstacles, the local planning department and the planning directorates in the governorates associated with it were able to achieve many achievements, including:

  • Preparing studies on the development reality of the provinces.
  • Preparing studies on local development in Iraq. And about the provincial development plans until 2020.
  • Preparing and holding many conferences and presenting working papers on local development planning in the governorates of Dhi Qar, Diyala, Basra, Najaf and Salah al-Din.
  • Contribute to the preparation of conferences for the governorates and participate in them effectively by preparing studies on spatial development for each governorate. The achievements of the planning directorates have been discussed, which have accomplished their tasks in preparing spatial development plans for the governorates until 2020. It is hoped that conferences will be held for the governorates according to the directives of His Excellency the Minister.
  • Preparing and training the employees in the planning directorates on the big mission of the ministry represented in the completion of the five-year plan. The employees of the directorates have been trained on how to deal with the forms related to the five-year plan projects, who have played an important role in explaining these forms to the provincial departments. The Local Planning Department also had a key role in coordinating between the governorates and ministries on the one hand, and the technical departments on the other, in preparing the five-year plan projects. The five-year plan included the Kurdistan region, where a number of work teams were sent to help them complete the five-year plan projects, like the rest of the provinces.
  • The Local Planning Department also prepared the spatial development paper in Iraq for the next five-year plan.
  • In addition to what was mentioned above, the Local Planning Department and the planning directorates associated with it continue to perform its prepared programs, including follow-up to regional development projects, coordination with the governorates, and the establishment of development courses for employees of the department and planning directorates. Some planning directorates have begun to conduct training courses on project evaluation and investment budget for employees of the provincial departments. technical and economic feasibility.

We would like to point out that all that has been achieved during this short period of the life of local planning and planning directorates has been done with exceptional efforts to avoid obstacles and difficulties that impede work, including the lack of staff in some planning directorates, as their number in the governorates of Dhi Qar,misan and Basra reaches 2 or 4 people compared to the governorates of Nineveh and Babylon, which has 15 and 18 employees, in addition to the lack of sufficient and appropriate place for the work of the department and the planning directorates. We hope to find appropriate support through the implementation of the new law of the Ministry of Planning, especially in transferring the department of preparing the investment program for the governorates from the Department of Sectors to the Department of Regional and Local Development, which when applied will give an important impetus to local planning and planning directorates, and this requires instructions issued by His Excellency the Minister according to what was stated in the law. We also hope to overcome the problems and difficulties that we referred to with the support and solidarity of the relevant authorities in the ministry and the governorates.

5. Department of preparing the investment program for the governorates

The department undertakes the following tasks:-

  • Follow-up investment projects that are included in the allocations of the region and governorates that are not organized in a region and prepare the annual investment plan for their development in coordination with the Department of Regional and Local Development
  • Coordinating with the ministries and agencies not associated with a ministry, the region, the governorates that are not organized in a region, and the departments of planning sectors and government investment programs by translating spatial development policies into five-year and annual investment programs.
  • Discussing projects submitted by the region and the governorate that is not organized in a region, in coordination with the competent departments in the ministry
  • Examining everything related to requests related to cost increases, allocations, and the inclusion of projects and transfers related to the Territories Development Program
  • Contribute to studies and research in various development fields
  • Carrying out field visits to governorate development projects in coordination with the competent departments and planning directorates affiliated to the Ministry in the governorates affiliated to the Ministry.