The Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia on June 24, 2025, adopted the Law Amending and Supplementing the Urban Planning Law, which was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia No. 127/2025. In accordance with Article 7 of the above-mentioned Law, this Law enters into force on the day of its publication in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of North Macedonia”.
The new amendments to the Law on Urban Planning introduce new rules for urban planning and make significant amendments to the Law on Urban Planning that provide for a clear division of responsibilities, especially in terms of the preparation of urban plans and their expert review.
A significant amendment brought by Article 2 of the Law Amending and Supplementing the Law on Urban Planning is the amendment to Article 48, paragraph 7 of the Law on Urban Planning, which is now provided as follows: “The legal entity that performs an expert review of an urban plan cannot be the same legal entity that developed the plan subject to expert review, nor be the owner, manager or employee of the legal entity that developed the same urban plan.”
This means that with the new amendments to the Law on Urban Planning, the same legal entity, nor its owner, manager or employee, will not be able to be involved in both the preparation and revision of the same urban plan. This amendment should enable greater transparency, independence and legal certainty in the preparation and revision of urban plans.
Article 3 of the Law Amending and Supplementing the Law on Urban Planning amends Article 61, paragraph 1 of the Law on Urban Planning in terms of which legal entities can prepare an urban project, whereby this article is now provided as follows: “An urban project can be prepared by legal entities with a license for the preparation of urban plans in accordance with Article 68 of this Law.”
Particularly significant changes are brought by Article 4 of this Law, which amends Article 63 of the Law on Urban Planning. Namely, Article 63 of the Law on Urban Planning amends the provisions regulating the procedure for the preparation and approval of an urban project with a parcellation plan for the purpose of implementing a detailed urban plan, an urban plan for a village or an urban plan outside a settlement but also amends the supervision of the preparation of urban projects outside settlements.
The procedure for the preparation and approval of the urban project with a parcellation plan is carried out in electronic form, and the applicant for the preparation of an urban project with a parcellation plan may be the owner, owners or co-owners of the construction land in cases where the project scope covers one construction plot formed by multiple cadastral plots from different owners or the owner/owners of one construction plot when the project scope covers multiple construction plots for re-parcellation, as well as the owners of construction land who own more than 30% of the construction plot or the owners of construction land under a facility in the construction plot, if the remaining part of the construction land in the plot in both cases is owned by the Republic of North Macedonia. The applicant finances the preparation of the urban project with a parcellation plan and the preparation of the expert review of the same project.
The procedure for the preparation of an urban project with a parcellation plan is initiated by a legal entity that meets the requirements of Article 68 of this Law and is authorized by a power of attorney by the applicant for the preparation of an urban project with a parcellation plan, by submitting a request for approval of the preparation of an urban project with a parcellation plan, to which is attached evidence of the ownership of the construction land, a project program with a sketch of the proposed parcellation plan and the new disposition of the areas for construction within the project scope, an extract from the urban plan, a report on numerical data and/or a report on an updated geodetic base, a power of attorney and an administrative fee, which are forwarded to the Urban Planning Commission of the competent authority under Article 38 of this Law. And if there is planned or existing infrastructure within the project scope, an opinion from the competent entity under Article 47 of this Law is also submitted with the request.
The developer shall submit the prepared urban project with a parcellation plan to the legal entity that meets the requirements of Article 68 of this Law for conducting an expert review, for the purpose of conducting an expert review of the urban project with a parcellation plan. A legal entity that conducts an expert review of the urban project with a parcellation plan may not be the legal entity that developed the same project, nor may it be the owner, manager or employee of the legal entity that developed the urban project with a parcellation plan.
The developer of an urban project with a parcellation plan shall submit a request for approval of a revised urban project with a parcellation plan with all its components and structural parts through the e-урбанизам information system in accordance with the Urban Planning Rulebook referred to in Article 24 of this Law.
The Urban Planning Commission of the competent authority referred to in Article 38 of this Law, within 20 working days of the submitted urban project with a parcellation plan referred to in paragraph (16) of this Article, shall issue a positive opinion with a proposal for its approval or, if there are deficiencies, shall submit it to the developer with a notification of the identified deficiencies.
The urban project with a parcellation plan and the proposal for its approval with a positive opinion prepared by the Urban Planning Commission of the competent authority referred to in Article 38 of this Law, shall be submitted to the Municipal Council, which may or may not adopt it, by decision of the Council, and shall be approved with a certificate of verification by the competent authority, i.e. the Minister/Mayor.
These amendments to the Law on Urban Planning are expected to overcome the current shortcomings of the procedure for preparing and approving urban projects, but also to ensure more efficient implementation of urban plans.