LAND GOVERNANCE FOR RAPID URBANISATION LAND POLICIES AND MDGS IN RESPONSE TO NEWLY EMERGING CHALLENGES March 9-10, 2009, The World Bank, Washington DC Alain Durand-Lasserve Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – France

OUTLINE 1. Recent interest in relationship between land and governance issues 2. Rapid urbanisation: figures & trends 3. Land governance: some methodological issues 4. Practical objectives of land governance for rapid urbanisation 5. Tools and procedures for improved land governance in rapid urbanisation 6. Implications for research

1. Recent interest in relationship between land and governance issues 1.1. Converging initiatives to create harmonised set of land indicators during last five years (Quan, 2007) In urban areas World Bank/DBS, UN-Habitat, Global Urban Observatory (Urb. Gov. Index) In rural and urban areas MCC, USAID - Inter-American Alliance for Real Property Rights In rural areas IFAD, International Land Coalition 1.2. Main focus on: Property rights Security of tenure Land markets Land administration

1.3. In a first step: indirect relationship between land and urban governance Governance issues in urban areas have been addressed by several United Nations agencies from the late 1990s onwards. - UN-Habitat Global Campaign on Urban Governance (1999). - UN-Habitat Global Campaign for Secure Tenure (2000). -UNDP Oslo Governance Centre - OGC (2005 ). Role of UN-Habitat in enhancing relationship between urban governance and governance in land. - Convergence of the two Global Campaigns (Urban Governance & secure Tenure). - Role of GLTN established by UN-Habitat in Its main objective is to contribute to poverty alleviation and Goal 7, Target 11 of the (MDGs)

1.4. Second step: land governance issues in rural and urban areas FAO publication on Good governance in land tenure and administration (2007) The WB initiated comparative study on Governance in Land Administration covering both rural and urban areas (2007) Current trend: -Governance approached from a rural and urban perspective. - Thematic shift from governance in land administration to land governance. Yet no systematic analysis of land governance in the context of rapid urbanisation.

2. Rapid urbanisation: figures & trends 2.1. At global level - Urban population By the middle of the 21 st century the total population of the developing world will more than double: 2.3 billions in 2005 to 5.3 billions in % of the world urban population growth over the next four decades will be absorbed by cities in developing countries. - Urban sprawl : Whereas Population in developing cities is expected to double in the next thirty years these cities can be expected to triple their land area during this period (Angel, 2007, Making Room for a Planet of Cities).

2.2. Land governance for rapid urbanization the case of African cities - In 2050, Asia will host 63% of the global urban population, Africa about a quarter. - In Asia, adaptation of land governance tools and procedures expected to be facilitated by: -Rate of economic growth -Tenure systems and land administration -Urban governance patterns 2.3. Land governance for rapid urbanization is raising particular problem to African cities -Urban growth rate: 3.3% between 2000 and Early stage of urban transition -Expected to sustain the highest rate of urban growth in the world for several decades. -Two-third of population growth in Africa will be absorbed by intermediate cities. -Lack of public resources -Weak resources

2.4. Land and urban poverty in African cities -Expansion of urban population has caused rapid increase in the demand for land. -Dual tenure systems (customary tenure). -Urban poverty is becoming the regions most important social issue (UN-Habitat, ECA-CEA, 2008, The State of African Cities, 2008). -Informal land market for the poor is now the dominant land market sector: creates frictions between the city administrations and the inhabitants in informal settlements. Governance systems and approaches are in need of review and changes (UN-Habitat, ECA-CEA, 2008: 13). For these reasons: focus on African cities.

3. Land governance: some methodological issues 3.1. Defining the terms Governance: broad consensus at international level, reflected in this conference debate Governance is defined as the set of traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. Governance institutions cover those institutions that safeguard individual rights, and regulate markets and the functioning of public administration and the political system. Land governance refers to "the rules, processes and structures through which decisions are made regarding access to and the use & transfer of land, the manner in which those decisions are implemented and the way that conflicting interests in land are managed. No consensus about what Good governance refers to. -Government system based on Western model of democracy -Based upon individualisation and depersonalised rules (as opposed to rules based on personal relationship).

3.2. Conflicting timeframe: short-term needs versus long-term social change Governance – including land governance – aims at providing a high degree of transaction security, which in turns is supposed to procures a decisive advantage in a societys capacity to produce wealth. In the context of African cities, and especially when land and tenure is concerned, production of confidence is still largely based on personal relationships. - Tenure is a social relation. Transposition to developing countries of the process of impersonal formalisation of rules with regards to tenure does not work at the pace expected by the dominant model (Payne & al. 2009). - Populations resistance to the risk of destabilizing social relation and social order – in which tenure is playing a central role – can be an insurmountable obstacle. - The time that was needed in developed countries – centuries – to set up effective land governance is rarely taken into account. - There is a contradiction between the urgent need for effective governance in land in response to rapid urbanisation, and the time required to make it socially acceptable.

3.3. Diversity of situations (regional, national, local) (1) - Urbanization patterns Urbanisation rate (current figures and anticipated trends) Urbanisation pattern at national level and dynamics (urban primacy, role of secondary cities, ) - Demographic factors Population growth Migration patterns - Level of economic development GNP & Income per capita, Dynamics and trends (rate of economic growth, ) Vulnerability of national economies to external factors (dependency) - Degree of social development Social development indicators (ref. UNDP Human Development Index - HDI) - Historical background and legacy Historical background and colonial legacy Political background

3.4. Diversity of situations (regional, national, local) (2) - Legal and regulatory framework Impacts of governance - Land policy and land administration Centralised / decentralised - Tenure system / tenure patterns - Land rights systems Legal dualism - Tenure formalisation Ratio registered land right / non registered rights Customary / statutory tenure Diversity is raising series of methodological problems - Complexity of interactions between factors involved, especially in a globalising world where anticipation is made difficult by uncertainties. - Diversity makes difficult international comparisons and quantification (Land Equity, 2009).

4. Practical objectives of land governance for rapid urbanisation 4.1. Prepare for urban spatial expansion / urban sprawl 4.2. Provide land for infrastructures – especially transport infrastructure 4.3. Setting up land reserve for arterial road and infrastructure taking into account expected spatial expansion of cites in the next decades (Angel, 2007) 4.4. Provide land for housing at affordable cost 4.5. Limit the exclusionary impacts of unregulated land markets 4.6. Ensure continuum in land rights 4.7. Promote incremental tenure & informal settlement upgrading processes

5. Tools and procedures for improved land governance in rapid urbanisation (1) 5.1. Keeping administrative control over the area cities to encompass future urban expansion (Angel, 2007) 5.3. Relying on public land acquisitions for the provision of infrastructure 5.4. Regulating land market Limit the impact of unregulated land markets on land prices Ensure viable articulation between formal and informal land markets Incremental integration of informal land market into the sphere of formality

5. Tools and procedures for improved land governance in rapid urbanisation (2) 5.5. Adapting decentralisation policy to land governance taking into account the slow pace of formalisation of rules (tenure formalisation) 5.6. Lowering norms and standards (including procedural norms) 5.7. Involving a wide range of stakeholders – including informal ones – into the provision of serviced land and housing for the low incomes 5.8. Revisiting the role of urban planning (V. Watson, in GRHS, 2009) New approaches should be: - Strategic rather than comprehensive - Flexible rather than end-state and fixed - Stakeholder / community driven rather than expert driven * Reflect new urban concerns (global positioning, environment sensitive, socially inclusive)

6. Some implications for research 6.1. Land governance models -Universal model of land governance or diversity of model? (ref to contextualisation of land governance: see presentation by Land Equity) -Voluntary guidelines or prescriptive model? 6.2. Relationship between governance and economic development of cities from the perspectives of: -Competitiveness -Investment incentives 6.3. Role of land governance in poverty reduction -Impact on housing -Impact on security of tenure & tenure formalisation 6.4. Impact of land governance models on urban land markets -Integration of informal land markets -Articulation between formal and informal land markets