Human rights and sustainable spatial development

What is the relationship between spatial planning and human rights? Though this question may seem highly theoretical at first glance, closer analysis will reveal that there are in fact a number of ways in which public policies in the area of territorial planning and development and the imperative of respecting the fundamental rights of human beings are interrelated. This paper seeks to explore the link between the use and development of the
territory and the realisation and protection of human rights, based on an examination of a number of important legal and policy documents in both fields. It does not aim at exhaustive treatment of the subject, but only highlights some of the key issues which deserve due consideration in the formulation and implementation of land-use planning and territorial development policies.