The use of neighborhood impact statement as an impact assessment instrument integrated to city planning: the case of Sao Carlos (SP)

Despite extensive experience with the use of Impact Assessment (IA), the Neighborhood Impact Statement (EIV) has been applied without properly considering the international principles that guide the practice of IA. The EIV emerged from the promulgation of the City Statute (Federal Law 10,257) in 2001 as an instrument of IA integrated to the planning of cities whose purpose is to previously inform decision makers about the likely impacts promoted by projects implemented in urban areas, their alternatives and corresponding acceptability. This work aimed to characterize the institutional structure for the application of EIV in the country and to assess the level of proximity to good practices for the effectiveness of AI. The survey of the institutional/legal aspects that provide support for the application of EIV in a group of 51 Brazilian municipalities (the 50 most populous Brazilian municipalities in Brazil and the municipality of Sao Carlos / SP), was complemented by the review of the quality of the content of the EIV elaborated in the country that allowed to identify a number of aspects considered positive for the effectiveness of EIV, because they correspond to the good practices recommended for AI. However, aspects were identified that should be improved, so that city planning can benefit from the full potential of this instrument, such as, the establishment of the purposes attributed to the EIV, procedures adopted for its integration into the decision-making process, definition of scope and analysis of alternatives, greater conceptual and methodological adequacy in the identification and forecasting of neighborhood impacts, and commitment to monitoring the real effects caused on the neighborhood and the effectiveness of mitigation measures throughout the life of the projects.