The extraordinary complexity of any urban planning process serves as irrefutable proof of the kind of society we have built in Spain: our daily lives are dominated by inefficiency, characterized by the immense effort required to achieve very meager results. This reality reaches an extreme in the processing of “general plans”—which, in the Valencian Community, are divided into two distinct instruments: the Structural General Plan (subject to regional-level evaluation and approval) and the Detailed Planning Scheme (subject to municipal-level evaluation and approval).
Local authorities, recognizing that undertaking a full revision of their general planning is an uncertain, long-term endeavor—likely to span at least a decade—are increasingly seeking an alternative path: the incremental adaptation of their planning framework through specific amendments, whether to the structural or the detailed components. All of this, of course, remains subject to the limitations established by national and regional urban planning legislation.
The rise of planning amendments, coupled with the decline of full-scale plan revisions, are two sides of the same coin. This trend warrants deep reflection and should encourage legislative initiatives—such as those already championed by various regional governments, including that of the Valencian Community.
AUG-ARQUITECTOS, SLP possesses extensive, proven experience in drafting planning amendments of varying degrees of complexity. Since 1993, Víctor García Gil—an urban planner with the firm—has drafted 48 such amendments for a wide range of municipalities. Of these, 30 have received final approval from the relevant authorities, 14 are currently in the processing stage, and 4 have been shelved. These figures highlight the significant role that such assignments play in the firm’s urban planning practice and underscore the growing importance of planning amendments within its professional scope. Amending planning documents often serves as a catalyst for other equally valuable processes, such as the drafting of consolidated planning texts. In practice, combining these two types of assignments yields results comparable to a full-scale planning review, while requiring significantly less time and financial investment. Within this context, AUG-ARQUITECTOS, SLP has built strong relationships with all the organizations for which it has worked—clients who have come to value the dedication and professionalism of its team.