Land tenure in Developing Countries

Scholarly Research Paper from the year 1991 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Demographics, Urban Management, Planning, printed single-sided, grade: -, University of London (Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning), course: Development Planning Unit, language: English, abstract: For many people in most of the developing countries which are experiencing rapid urbanisation, the habitat conditions are totally unsatisfactory. It is now widely accepted that one of the major reasons for such a situation 1s the poor management of land.The focus of this paper will be on this issue of urban land in the production of housing in developing countries. In this context the role of land, as the most central human settlement issue, will be analysed by looking at different land tenure concepts and the potential solutions they contain for equitable land allocation strategies. The role of tenure can probably best be illustrated by the importance of political and social problems connected with urban landownership. To mention just a few: urban unrest is often based on landlord-tenant conflicts; urban planning is frequently obstructed by powerful landowners and/or politicians; and there is often rampant corruption in relation to urban land questions and urban planning.The public, as well as the private sector each have an important role to play in the provision of affordable serviced and well-located plots for housing the majority of low-income urban inhabitants. The position which will be taken here is that total state withdrawal from the issue of urban residential land markets is just as unproductive as full state control with outright land nationalisation and redistribution.Because of the difficulties in introducing the Western concept of private freehold, and the risks it involves concerning land speculation and gentrification of areas meant for low-income households, it is preferable to support systems of land tenure and property rights based on traditional communal land tenure systems. This should be done in conjunction with the provision of public services, whereby the government acts as catalysts to attract the private sector to participate in land development for low-cost housing. Appropriate standards and levels of infrastructure must be adopted, taking into account the need for self-help and community participation, with an emphasis on incremental housing, services and infrastructure.