Topical Problems of the Urban Environment Protection

Abstract

Introduction. The concentration of a huge number of people in a small area causes a wide range of social, economic, environmental and other problems, starting from the growth of crime and ending with the natural landscape degradation. With regard to urban territories, the major environmental problems are: air pollution, water quality deterioration, increase of wastes, noise, stray animals, etc. At the same time, in each region or municipality, an environmental problem may have its own features. The role of law in solving these problems is increasing every year. Environment protection is a crosssectoral issue, which means that the norms of environmental, urban planning, municipal, administrative, sanitary and other branches of legislation should be applied for solving the issues thereof. Meanwhile, each of these sectors of legislation pursues its own, rather local goals, using the sector-specific legal tools. Since the city is a complicated but integral social organism, there arises the need to bring various sector norms and regulations to a "common denominator". This role is fulfilled by the urban planning, which doesn’t cancel the legal effect of other sectoral legal norms, but undertakes the coordinating functions, requiring a separate and detailed study. The aim of the work is to identify the topical problems of the urban environment protection and outline the ways to solve them, based on the analysis of the urban planning, natural resources and environmental laws.Materials and Methods. Legal, organisational, economic and other aspects of the urban environment protection have been investigated using the conventional methods of scientific cognition: general scientific (the dialectical) and specific scientific (analysis, synthesis, concrete-historical, logical, etc.) methods.Results. The urban planning, natural resources and environmental laws, which regulate various aspects of the urban environment legal protection have been analysed. The advantages and disadvantages of the existing model of law have been revealed, suggestions for it improvement have been made. The analysis of spatial planning documents of three subjects of the Russian Federation (the Republic of Kalmykia, the Republic of Dagestan and Astrakhan region), and three municipalities (urban districts of Astrakhan, Makhachkala and Elista) has been carried out. The environmental requirements contained in the Land Use and Development Regulations of these subjects of the RF have been revealed.Discussion and Conclusion. The territory of any city is an aggregate of transformed, modified and natural ecological systems, requiring the integrated approach to legal regulation. This objective is achieved by means of the urban planning law. It's in the spatial planning and urban zoning documents that the existing and planned development of the territories is stated, the individual permits, restrictions and prohibitions on the use and protection of the natural resources are taken into account, the balance between the environmental, economic and social interests of the state, business and society is found. The urban planning law directly affects fulfilment of the various environment protection directions within the certain areas of human activity - defines the places (landfills) for waste disposal, sites for constructing the waste recycling plants, locations of wastewater treatment systems and lands for setting up the specially protected natural territories (hereinafter SPNT) (including the ones within the city boundaries) aimed at preserving the valuable objects of flora and fauna; promotes the establishment of the protection regime for the urban forests and forest parks. At the same time, urban planning law does not repeal the rules and regulations on protection of waters, lands, forests or animal world objects, which continue to be legally binding, and, in their turn, influence on the urban planning requirements and restrictions. The provisions of the federal urban planning and environmental laws are perceived differently by the regional and local authorities, this entails significant specifics of the environment protection at regional and local levels.