THE POSSIBILITIES OF AN INSTRUMENT: THE NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACT STUDY AND ITS USE IN BELO HORIZONTE

Abstract

This paper discusses the Neighborhood Impact Study (NIS), an urban management tool provided by the City Statute, which enables the evaluation of the impacts caused by the enterprises to be inserted into the urban environment, in order to point out the implementation feasibility, as well as the mitigation, compensatory and the potentiating measures. The study aimed to illustrate the mechanism of the Neighborhood Impact Study through its application in Belo Horizonte and the controversial urban licensing process for two hotels to be implanted in the Pampulha’s Special Guideline Area. The case study showed that even restrictive laws, such as those related to the Special Guideline Areas, can be modified to become more permissive and the Neighborhood Impact Study good intentions canceled before the strength of the economic interests.