ABSTRACT: The growth of population density in urban areas has exacerbated the negative impacts on water resources, such as pollution due to higher effluent discharge and flooding due to soil impermeabilisation. Such problems worsen when public policies and territorial management practices are not integrated. This paper recognizes the importance of integrating water resource management with land use management to provide conditions for urban sustainability. A set of criteria is defined to assess how key Brazilian legislations – the National Water Resources Policy and the City Statute – prescribe aspects of integration in urban areas, and how such integration is performed at the local level based on the corresponding plans – River Basin Management Plan and the city’s Master Plan. Extensive document and literature review were carried out to select and characterize the relevant analysis criteria, as part of a diagnostic framework. In combination with the local legislation and plans, the proposed criteria framework can be used as a data collection tool to assist in the identification of deficiencies and qualities of actions aimed at integrating the efforts of water resource and land use management. Surveys undertaken using this framework may guide the provision of resources to fill management gaps in urban spaces.
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