Urban Land

Management

Land management is
all activities
associated with the • land tenure,
• the implementation of land
management of land policy,
as an environmental, • land administration,
an economic and a • land use planning and
socio-cultural • land readjustment.
resource, therefore
including;

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 Urban Land Management…..
Land management encompasses all
activities associated with the management
of land and natural resources that are
required to achieve sustainable
development.
It is the processes by which the resources
of land are put to good effect, and it is an
integrated system which solves land
related problems.
It can incorporate farming, mineral
extraction, property and estate
management, and the physical planning of
4towns and the countryside (UNECE 1996).
 Urban Land Management…..
Some of the critical objectives that
must be addressed by land
management policies today include:
a. Property conveyance, including decisions on
mortgages and investment;
b. property assessment and valuation and thus
supporting government services through
taxation and fees related to land and
improvements
c. improving the efficiency of land resource use,
providing incentives for development,
including the provision of residential housing
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and basic infrastructure such as sewer and
water facilities;
 Urban Land Management…..
e. the formation and implementation of land use
planning;
f. environmental impact assessment;
g. the monitoring of all activities on land that
affect the best use of that land protecting the
natural environment from degradation;
h. providing equitable and efficient access to the
economic benefits of land and real estate
markets;
Access to information about land such as
information about;
 land resource capacity,
 land tenure and
 land use so as to achieve the above specified
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objectives of land management.
 Urban Land Management…..

This information is crucial for:

 Identifying problems and priority concerns;
 Formulating and implementing appropriate
land policies and strategic plans to address
the problems;
 Supporting land use planning and land
development activities;
 Providing cost-effective land transaction
processes to support economic development;
 Implementing equitable and efficient property
taxation systems;
 Monitoring land use to ensure the
identification of new problems and to evaluate
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the effect of land policies.
 Urban Land Management…..

The functions of land management in

sustainable development can be
summarized as follows.
 It establishes an effective and transparent
real estate market by providing
information and protecting rights on land;
 It results in well-balanced urban and rural
development by supervision, land
arrangements, planning and acquisition
land for public interests;
 It assures environmental protection by
environmental impact assessment and
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land policies.
 Urban Land Management…..

There must be a clear and rigid

framework of laws governing the
ownership and rights to use the land.
Good land resource management will
help to promote economic and social
development in both urban and rural
areas.
For countries in transition, land reform
is a key component in achieving these
goals.

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 Land Administration……..

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 Urban Land Management…..
Land policy is part of the national policy on
promoting objectives including economic
development, social justice and equity, and
political stability. It may be associated with:
• security of tenure;
• land markets (particularly land
transactions and access to credit);
• real property taxation;
• sustainable management and control
of land use,
• natural resources and the
environment;
• the provision of land for the poor,
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• ethnic minorities and women; and
 Urban Land Management…..
The operational component of the land
management paradigm is the range of land
administration functions that ensure proper
management of rights, restrictions,
responsibilities and risks in relation to property,
land and natural resources.
These functions include;
 land tenure (securing and transferring rights in
land and natural resources);
 land value (valuation and taxation of land and
properties);
 land use (planning and control of the use of land
and natural resources); and
 land development (implementing utilities,
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infrastructure and construction planning).
 Urban Land Management…..

The land administration functions are

based on and are facilitated by
appropriate land information
infrastructures that include cadastral
and topographic datasets and provide
access to complete and up-to-date
information about the built and natural
environment.
Modern LAS in developed economies
should facilitate sustainable
development - the triple bottom line of
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economic, social and environmental
 Urban Land Management…..
The interface between the LA infrastructure and
professions and the public will increasingly be
serviced by ICT designed to implement e-
government and e-citizenship.
These processes will be used to link systems and
information to people who would then be involved in
delivering sustainable development at the local level.
E-citizenship is mobilization of society to engage in
planning, use and allocation of resources, using
technology to facilitate participatory democracy.
E-government involves a government putting
government information and processes on-line, and
using digital systems to assist public access.
E-governance is e-democracy – helping to govern

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society through the use of the Web.
 Land Administration Systems
LAS, and particularly their core cadastral
components, are important infrastructure, which
facilitate the implementation of land policies in
both developed and developing countries.
LAS are concerned with the social, legal,
economic and technical framework within which
land managers and administrators must operate.
These systems support efficient land markets and
are, at the same time, concerned with the
administration of land as a natural resource to
ensure its sustainable development.
This global approach to modern land
administration systems is shown in the Figure
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below.
 Land Administration……..

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 Land Administration……..
As described above, land administration
comprises an extensive range of systems and
processes to manage:
Land Tenure:
the allocation and security of rights in lands;
the legal surveys to determine parcel
boundaries;
the transfer of property or use from one party
to another through sale or lease; and
the management and adjudication of doubts
and disputes regarding rights and parcel
boundaries.
Land Value:
the assessment of the value of land and
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 Land Administration……..

Land Use: the control of land use through

adoption of planning policies and land use
regulations at national, regional and local
levels;
the enforcement of land use regulations; and
the management and adjudication of land
use conflicts.
Land Development:
the building of new physical infrastructure;
the implementation of construction planning
and change of land use through planning
permission and granting of permits.
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 Applying Good Governance to Urban Land
Management
World-wide cities are growing at a rate of 2%
annually (UN 1999).
While in 2000 about half of the world’s population
lived in cities, almost 2/3 (60.3%) will reside in
urban areas in 2030.
Especially African, Asian and Latin American cities
are characterized by high urban growth rates
(3,5% for Africa, 2,4% for Asia and 1,7% for Latin
America) caused by natural population growth and
rural-urban migration as well as by the underlying
pull- and push factors such as the lacking
19 infrastructure in rural areas and the hope for
As a result of the uncontrolled and
uncoordinated growth of urban agglomeration
characterized by;
 informal land acquisition,
 fragmentation of peri-urban land,
 inefficient use of land,
 poorly functioning land markets etc. urban
development is far from being
sustainable.
It also demands an enabling land
administration as the process of determining,
recording and disseminating information
about tenure, value and use of land as well as
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an adequate land policy.
 Actual trends in urban land management
Urban land management actually faces many
problems in most developing countries as well as
in countries in transition which hamper a
sustainable urban development.
 There is rarely a clear urban land policy that
takes into account activities of all agencies
involved in land management.
 Weak institutional and professional capacity to
manage land, there is a lack of adequate
financial resources, especially at the local
level.
 In addition, complex land regulations and
lengthy procedures, E.g. for land regularization
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are hindering fast and cost-effective solutions.
  Multiple land tenure systems (legal pluralism) often
lead to tenure insecurity and can result in severe
land a conflict which is aggravated by the lack of
(adequate) land conflict-resolution procedures.
 lack of information about land tenure rules,
 regulations and practices which limit transparent
land market activities as well as
 lack of reliable information on land use and
ownership because of non-existing or uncoordinated
recordkeeping systems and
 lack of institutional co-ordination and – as a
consequence – a lack of land information systems.
 Finally, corruption and illicit practices often hamper
to improve the land delivery system for the urban
poor.
 To overcome these problems, norms of good
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governance have to be incorporated in urban land
management.
 The global campaign for (good)
urban governance
good urban governance should be
characterized by;
 Sustainability,
 Subsidiary,
 Equity,
 Efficiency,
 Transparency and accountability,
 Civic engagement and citizenship,
and
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1. Sustainability in all dimensions of
urban development
“Cities must balance the social,
economic and environmental needs of
present and future generations.
This should include a clear commitment
to urban poverty reduction.
Leaders of all sections of urban society
must have a long-term, strategic vision
of sustainable human development and
the ability to reconcile divergent
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 2. Subsidiary of authority and resources to the
closest appropriate level
“Responsibility for service provision should be
allocated on the basis of the principle of
subsidiarity, that is, at the closest appropriate
level consistent with efficient and cost-effective
delivery of services.
This will maximize the potential for inclusion of
the citizenry in the process of urban governance.
Decentralization and local democracy should
improve the responsiveness of policies and
initiatives to the priorities and needs of citizens.
Cities should be empowered with sufficient
resources and autonomy to meet their
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responsibilities”
 3. EQUITY of access to decision-making
processes and the basic necessities of urban
life
“The sharing of power leads to equity in the
access to and use of resources.
Women and men must participate as equals in
all urban decision-making, priority-setting and
resource allocation processes.
Inclusive cities provide everyone – be it the
poor, the young or older persons, religious or
ethnic minorities or the handicapped – with
equitable access to nutrition, education,
employment and livelihood, health care,
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shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation and
other basic services”
 4. EFFICIENCY in the delivery of public
services and in promoting local economic
development
“Cities must be financially sound and cost-
effective in their management of ;
 revenue sources and expenditures,
 the administration and delivery of services, and
 in the enablement, based on comparative
advantage, of government, the private sector
and communities to contribute formally or
informally to the urban economy.
 A key element in achieving efficiency is to
recognize and enable the specific contributions
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of women to the urban economy” (UNCHS
2000).
 5. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY of
decision-makers and all stakeholders
“The accountability of local authorities to their
citizens is a fundamental tenet of good
governance.
Similar, there should be no place for corruption in
cities.
Corruption can undermine local government
credibility and can deepen urban poverty.
Transparency and accountability are essential to
stakeholder understanding of local government
and to who is benefiting from decisions and
actions.
Access to information is fundamental to this
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understanding and to good governance.
 Laws and public policies should be
applied in a transparent and
predictable manner.
Elected and appointed officials and
other civil servant leaders need to set
an example of high standards of
professional and personal integrity.
Citizen participation is a key element in
promoting transparency and
accountability”

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 6. Civic Engagement and Citizenship
“People are the principal wealth of cities;
they are both the object and the means of
sustainable human development.
Civic engagement implies that living
together is not a passive exercise: in cities,
people must actively contribute to the
common good.
Citizens, especially women, must be
empowered to participate effectively in
decision-making processes.
The civic capital of the poor must be
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recognized and supported”
 7. SECURITY of individuals and their living
environment
“Every individual has the inalienable right to life,
liberty and the security of person.
 Insecurity has a disproportionate impact in further
marginalizing poor communities.
Cities must strive to avoid human conflicts and natural
disasters by involving all stakeholders in crime and
conflict prevention and disaster preparedness.
Security also implies freedom from persecution, forced
eviction and provides for security of tenure.
Cities should also work with social mediation and
conflict reduction agencies and encourage the co-
operation between enforcement agencies and other
social service providers (health, education and
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housing)”
 Week-8

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