4. Essential law
A major challenge in urban law frameworks is complexity, where both the volume of rules and their technical nature are not reflective of the capacity and resources that are locally available. In many cases, complex urban law frameworks are also not reflective of policy priorities. For all urban areas, but particularly those facing immediate growth and development challenges with only limited institutional capacity and financial resources, it is beneficial to focus on the minimum set of legal instruments and tools that are:
i) necessary to deliver the most important elements of urban development policy; and,
ii) adaptable to reasonable expectations of available resources and capacity for implementation.
Once an urban area has a functioning system based on a core set of tools, it can then consider the need for expansion into more detailed or demanding approaches.