Plano diretor e escassez de recursos: o uso da contribuição de melhoria como instrumento de financiamento para a política urbana

Abstract

This paper aims to prove that the absence of a legal culture in applying betterment levies to face resource scarcity for the execution of public works set forth in master plans has undermined the effectiveness of urban policies. Thus, the research questions whether the betterment levy, as a tax instrument, can effectively serve as a competent tool for sponsoring urban planning, contributing to the fulfillment of the city's social functions. The defended premise is that this tax, by capturing the land value increment generated by public works, constitutes a self-sustaining financing mechanism capable of enabling the execution of master plans. The theoretical framework adopts the theory of the cost of rights, which posits the onerosity of state action, and the concepts of real and fictitious scarcity. The methodology consists of bibliographic, descriptive, and interdisciplinary research with a qualitative approach. The results confirmed the hypothesis, showing that the betterment levy is a legally robust instrument, grounded on the principles of isonomy and the prohibition of unjust enrichment. It was concluded that, despite its proven viability, the drastic underutilization of the tax in Brazil stems from political and administrative barriers, representing a renunciation of a strategic tool for the realization of the Right to the City.