LAND IN AN URBANISING WORLD Download Cover only - (1MB) Download full PDF Version -(2.8MB)

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

		Equitable land management is an extremely complex problem around the world. Subject to countless legal, administrative, cultural and religious practices, it is something that has to be addressed by taking in a number of factors simultaneously.

GLOBAL OVERVIEW

Land in an urbanising world - a contentious and complex web of widely varying rules around the world By Clarissa Augustinus There are few more contentious and complex problems in the world than those dealing with land and secure tenure. Many religions have firm rules on land and inheritance, most local communities have deeply ingrained cultural traditions, and every government faces the challenge of land differently with its own vast array of laws.

Secure tenure and the Millennium Development Goals The United Nations Millennium Declaration articulates the commitment of Member States to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020 - Target 11 of Goal No.7. This task is monitored by UN-HABITAT. Tenure systems and their characteristics FORUM   Land plays a key role in post-conflict reconstruction By Jean du Plessis The issue of land is fundamental to the well-being of any society. At the same time, it can be highly contentious, complex and challenging. Patterns of ownership and control of land can have a major bearing on political and economic balances of power in a country, as demonstrated in a number of post-conflict situations today.   Land management in a post-conflict society: the Timor-Leste story By Jan Meeuwissen Four years ago, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in a UN-supervised referendum. Chaos and displacements of a vast number of people followed the August 1999 vote.   A generic solution for slums By Fred Harrison Slum dwellers could literally build their way out of poverty if supported by the correct policies. The secret is to remove the artificial ceiling that caps their talents and energy.     Negotiating with customary and Islamic land law in Afghanistan and Iraq By Siraj Sait Securing equitable land rights in the post-conflict societies of Afghanistan and Iraq shows a tangled web of historical, political, socio-economic, religious and legal systems.   AIDS pandemic denies secure tenure for women, children By Hilary Lim Africa's street children stand as a vivid example of the destitution caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in urban areas. Having lost their parents and relatives to the disease, these children are denied fixed abodes by the statute book. Better protection of children's rights to secure tenure could prevent the pandemic causing more poverty.   Land, secure tenure and women's rights By Marjolein Benschop In the world's vast array of different land laws, women have to do battle for the same rights as men. The problem is further compounded by those cultural, traditional, religious and often patriarchal practices that discriminate against women. Discrimination hurts the poorest of the poor most of all, and they include the 1 billion people living in the world's rapidly growing urban slums.   Land planning in urban China By Ma Zhejun How to use land is the key to urban planning and one of the most important elements of any urban development programme. In China, owing to a large population and a small available land area, proper land use is essential. Land use planning in urban China faces two major challenges: to answer a high demand for modern living conditions, and to keep land use per capita at a relatively low level.

Land professionals heed calls for reform By Paul van der Molen Registrars and surveyors increasingly heed the calls for more responsive land management and sustainable urban planning policies. Encouraged by the UN system, the International Federation of Surveyors [Fédération Internationale des Géomètres (FIG)] is involved in an unprecedented effort to enable land management systems to meet the needs of 21st century urban society.

CASE STUDIES

		From land occupation to cooperation: story of planned occupation in Curitiba, Brazil By Yves Cabannes Land invasions and occupations have become a well-honed practice in Latin America's cities. Curitiba, in southern Brazil, provides a telling case of land occupation where the poor organised themselves in the face of stubborn official indifference to their claims.

		An African story - public land grabbing in Kenya By Davinder Lamba In Kenya all land is either owned by individuals, or held in trust. The government holds public land in trust for all the people and local authorities hold Trust Land in trust for people resident in the area. There is some law to ensure that public land held in trust is not misallocated to individuals. But gross abuse of public trust and of the law was rampant under the former government. This resulted in widespread land grabbing and related corruption. The poor were badly affected. So were the wetlands, coastal tracts, forest lands, and urban open spaces.

OPINION

		Urban agriculture: What limits? At the crossroads of rural-urban linkages, urban agriculture is widely practised around the world. According to UNDP, there were 800 million people working in urban agriculture in 1996.

		In the real world, poor people practise urban agriculture By Diana Lee-Smith According to a needs assessment by the Millennium Development Goals Hunger Task Force, all problems of food security in poor countries would be solved if the rich world spent US$70 billion per annum, or 0.3% of its GNP, on addressing them, mainly by building infrastructure.

		Combining top-down and grassroots land approaches in Mumbai By Sundar Burra Mumbai, the former Bombay, is India's economic capital but more than half its 12 million population are living in slums. Over the years, authorities have implemented a variety of policies to provide adequate housing to the poor, with some degree of success. But if anything, government's largely top-down policies and the market's own shortcomings have highlighted the pressing need for community involvement in slum policies.

		Promoting sustainable urban development in Moscow By Sergei Melnichenko Established in 1998, Moscow's State Urban Cadastre (SUC) has proven to be an efficient, cost-effective and comprehensive service in a fast-changing environment. The SUC works in close cooperation with other public agencies dealing with architecture and historical monuments, urban planning and surveying, and therefore contributes to sustainable urban development.

READER'S FORUM

		Join the debate We welcome readers' letters to stimulate the debate. These will be published under this Readers' Forum, at the discretion of the Editor, who may shorten or edit material to meet space and style requirements. Write to habitat.debate@unhabitat.org, or to the Information Services Section (Habitat Debate), P.O. Box 30030, GPO, Nairobi, 00100, KENYA, or fax number 254-20-623477.

PUBLICATIONS

		Guidelines on how to undertake a National Campaign for Secure Tenure Handbook on Best Practices, Security of Tenure and Access to Land

EVENTS

		World Habitat Day 2003 UN-HABITAT gets Canadian grant UN-HABITAT Executive Director honoured