1. Urban planning and environmental legislation

On specific problem in Spain, which was particularly noticeable in the legislative analysis carried out, is the wide range of approaches to urban planning in each of the autonomous regions from the viewpoint of sustainability. This is quite surprising, given the great similarities between the administrative ambits that regulate, control and prepare planning and the systems and types of plans themselves. This diversity range is a complex question, because in many cases the simple administrative border line that separates the regions does not correspond to environmental or functionally differentiated areas. Of course, this situation is not unique to Spain, as it is also found in other EU countries. That is why it would seem to be important for the organisation responsible for drafting and monitoring the plan and observing the territory to transcend political and administrative divisions and plot divisions themselves. However, the question does not affect only this issue but should also be considered within the legislative ambit. From the viewpoint of environmental sustainability all the signs are that having given all the powers over urban and spatial planning and housing to the autonomous regions has not been a very positive development. The difficulties involved in reverting this situation and achieving a common basis for the planning system (of course, considering the specific characteristics of each region) for Spain as a whole are surely obvious. However, given the fact that environmental questions are not the sole responsibility of the regions, linking the two may be considered to be necessary. Addressing certain issues related to sustainable urban planning from an environmental perspective would help to resolve certain problems that are now clearly visible when we analyse different sets of regional legislation on such planning and the environmental considerations to which it is subjected. It may well be worth returning to the old idea of national legislation on land linked to environmental legislation. The need for land and environmental legislation that could condition the environmental effects of urban planning in Spain as a whole would seem to be an urgent one. And this urgency should be extended throughout the European Union, because there seems to be a need for convergence on actions linking these two concepts. There are many examples of how an inappropriate urban-planning approach as led to irreparable damage to the environment in which people live, or to a natural environment that in many cases does not only belong to a specific district or region but to the whole country or the whole of Europe.