Module E: Land and Housing Management1. Introducing the fundamental principles of urban project...

Module E: Land and Housing Management 1

Module E: Land and Housing Management

• Introducing the fundamental principles of urban project experience in Africa: economic sustainability and basic services

• Outlining the systems through which land and housing are delivered in developing countries

• Identifying options and considerations for intervention in the land and housing delivery system

• Setting the context of local economic development strategic planning

• Highlighting the impact of local property taxes on land and housing markets

• Addressing property rights, tenure and registration issues

• Outlining the role of land as a source of revenue

• Identifying approaches for targeting access to land and housing by the poor

• Addressing serviced land delivery mechanisms

1. Objectives

Program for the day

• 9h00 – 10h30: SESSION A– Introduction and basic principles of the module– Land and housing delivery systems– Exercise A: Constraints and opportunities

• 10h30: Tea break• 11h00 – 12h30: SESSION B

– Local government jurisdiction in land and housing– Managing land use and tenure– Exercise B: Land challenges and decentralization

• 12h30: Lunch break• 13h30 – 15h00: SESSION C

– Urban management approaches to land and housing– Exercise C: Assessing the urban management framework

• 15h00: Tea break• 15h30 – 17h00: SESSION D

– Land and housing markets and local resources– Exercise D: Identifying enabling improvements in land and housing

• 17h00: CONCLUSION


Session A: Basic Principles of the Module

Introduction (1.1)• Experience with urban projects in Africa points to the following

priorities in the areas of land and housing:– Facilitating housing finance and cost recovery: the need to mobilize local

resources– Boosting local economic development: simplifying steps needed to obtain

title and improve sites and reforming the property tax system as a source of revenue for local governments

– Irregular settlements: a focus on upgrading of basic neighborhood infrastructure and facilities

– Peri-urban areas: channeling growth by providing only the “basic setting”, roads, drainage and right-of-ways

– Compiling an inventory of lands and existing infrastructure and services– Accepting the role of customary authorities in land management, while

working towards a convergence between traditional and market-oriented approaches


Session A: Land and housing delivery systems

Introduction (2.1)• Outline of the systems (formal and informal) through

which land and housing are delivered• Comparison between informal and formal delivery

processes and systems• The seven elements involved in housing delivery• Demand and supply side interventions and the need

for a holistic, enabling approach• Exercise

Formal and informal processes (2.2)

Difference between the stages of the “formal” and “informal development processes

‘Formal’ Process

Planning / Development Stages

‘Informal’ Process

Planning

Servicing

Construction

Occupancy

Source: Baross, 1990

Formal and informal processes (continued) (2.2)

Key Learning Points:

• Informal and formal development processes often cater to

different segments of the land and housing markets, have

different capacity requirements from participating actors, and

carry different implications

• In many cities and towns of the developing world, the informal

development process is a more significant source of land and

housing than the formal process—particularly for the urban poor

• Informal development stages (occupancy, construction,

services, planning) are often the reverse of the formal process

• It is more realistic to look for ways of improving development

undertaken by informal processes than to attempt to stop it

altogether

Housing Delivery System (2.3)Components of the housing delivery system

Housing delivery system (continued) (2.3)The Housing Production Process

Housing delivery system (continued) (2.3)

The different agents in the housing delivery process

Housing delivery system (continued) (2.3)Key Learning Points:

• Land and housing development occurs as part of a system comprising seven main components, each with key actors and institutions working within a policy and legislative environment

• Constraints in any of the components of the system can retard delivery

• Government has a strong influence on the overall quality of the delivery environment

• Developers and building contractors may be formal or informal (e.g., self help)

Interventions in the housing market (2.4)

Key Learning Points:

• Interventions in the delivery system may be on the supply side

(production of houses), the demand side (consumption of

houses), or a combination of both

• The general direction of policy interventions over recent decades

has been away from supply side interventions and towards

demand side interventions

• The optimal approach is to intervene so as to enable and facilitate

the land and housing delivery system

Concluding Points (2.5)The importance of taking a holistic view of the land and

housing delivery systems and sectors. This includes considering the use of natural resources, energy use, production of building waste, land use, transport and mobility

• The presence of both formal and informal land and housing

delivery systems

• Whether all components of the housing delivery system work

effectively or whether constraints and obstacles exist

• The effectiveness of the agents involved in each component of

the housing delivery system and the appropriateness of the

policy and legislative framework within which they operate

Concluding Points (2.5) (continued)Roles played by formal developers / contractors within the formal development system versus the

households’ role within the informal system

• The importance for government and local government

to support an enabling framework / environment for

land and housing delivery

• The different implications of supply-side and demand-

side interventions in the land and housing delivery

systems


Exercise

• Form groups of 8 - 10 people

• Appoint president and rapporteur

• Prepare for short plenary report back

• Q: What are the major constraining factors in the land and housing delivery system?


SESSION B: Local government competencies in land and housing

Introduction (3.1)

• Local government competencies in land and housing

• Management of land tenure and property rights

• Exercise

Defining the boundaries of local government’s territorial jurisdiction (3.2)

• The territorial jurisdiction of local governments can be found in various legal or administrative documents (laws)

• Preparing visual, cartographic (maps) and other documents leads to an enhanced understanding of geographic area for which the local government is responsible for addressing specific needs

• This identification can be applied specifically to urban and rural areas by different means

• Knowing how to handle all of these legal, practical and operational parameters is essential for proper management and local governance

• It is the law, which determines the government’s territorial administration and specifies the perimeters of administrative units, which include administrative districts as well as decentralized communities

• However, the law which establishes and organizes local governments, can also refer to delimitation based on regulations, by decree or by order of the Minister responsible for Administration

• These territorial administrative boundaries are not necessarily the same as certain functional boundaries

• The local elected officials and the civil servants must be aware of these

various operational boundaries.

(3.2) Defining the boundaries of local government’s territorial jurisdiction (continued)

Representing the territorial boundaries of local government’s jurisdiction (3.3)

Various modes of representation:• Geographic and topographic maps can be represented in

variable scale, depending on the task• Maps: plan of the city, the town planning scheme, the traffic

map, etc.• Aerial photographs are often the back-ups for maps• Topographic documents (e.g., Cadastre)• These different documentary representations correspond,

in practice, to various types of territorial land uses, which are often classified as rural or urban.

Distinguishing between urban, rural and peri-urban fringe areas (3.4)

• Most of the African legislation distinguishes rural zones from urban zones

• “Peri-urban” is an intermediate notion, defined as: “urbanized lands not included in the urban perimeter”, or “rural lands undergoing an urbanization process, bordering an urban district”

• Per-urban areas characterized by haphazard urbanization process: conflict of interests; loss of potentially important public revenues as developers and Chiefs negotiate among each other; lack of information about what is occurring on the ground

• In practice, the way these boundaries, limits and space are established and represented corresponds to specific needs and goals, which have their own particular and often complementary implications.

Understanding the challenges entailed in jurisdictional demarcation (3.5)

• The practical knowledge of territorial organization

• Accurate knowledge of the territory for the execution of the local public mandate

• Opportunities to define strategies to set up commercial facilities and non-commercial ones, but also for the organization of the various urban public utilities

• The ability to handle land organization

• The ability to identify the fiscal potential


SESSION B: Local government jurisdiction over land and housing

Key Learning Points:• The identification of the territorial boundaries for local

government jurisdiction is the key prerequisite for local officials to carry out their mandate

• Various instruments serve to represent the territorial boundaries for local government jurisdiction (e.g. maps, plans, etc)

• Many legislative documents, varying from one country to another, establish different legal statutes for land, and distinguish between rural and urban areas

• The challenge for peri-urban areas is to prepare them for urbanization by improving prospects for economic sustainability through the channeling of growth, and by protecting the land rights of rural groups through compensation and the identification of alternative land and employment

SESSION C: Managing land use and tenure

Understanding the different legal forms of land tenure and property rights (4.2)

• There are public lands and private lands• “Public domain“ land cannot be sold• Plots of land owned by private individuals are covered by the

regime of land ownership established by the registration system; the right of ownership is formally established by a registered title

• There are also the lands which are owned according to traditional or customary rules

• Information about land status is basis of effective land management

Management of land rights information (4.3)

• Data which must be taken into account pertains to the physical identification of the land (topography and cartography)

• The Cadastre: usual common law instrument for the management of land ownership rights

• Analysis required of:– available capacities, including staff, equipment and materials – potential to maintain these materials – financial potential

• On-going up-dating, accessibility, and clarity of documents on land information are necessary for the proper management of lands in the territory of the local district.

Links between legal land tenure and housing production (4.4)

• The legal status of the land is an integral part of creating housing. You must have a plot of land to build. But this land has to have permission to be built upon

• The documents which establish the right to build. These documents are: the building permit, a building administrative license; an architect must also be consulted to draw-up the plans of the building

• This double obligation, for land occupation and architectural conditions, has for resulted in the generalized absence of building permits, especially in urban zones in most countries

• The problem is not due to the lack of education but of means and of administrative control

Impacts of land tenure on both urban and rural poverty (4.5)

• Onerous regulatory and administrative requirements lead to growth of slums and informal areas; in rural areas, land is taken over by city dwellers

• Many legal and administrative conditions of access to land, titling and building permits, especially with regard to housing, are impossible to fulfill

• Land and titling laws that discriminate against women, and lack of proper amenities and housing facilities for women, lead to further growth of informal areas as women-headed households move to informal areas where they can be properly housed

• In the rural zones, the absence of legal documents, lack of development control by the public authorities, as well as the absence of rural framework structures, lead to taking over of lands by urban dwellers

Decentralization as an opportunity for different land rights management (4.6)

• Decentralization can be used to change the laws and the regulations pertaining to land

• This change of the legal statutes can be accompanied by a change in the procedures, and in particular, administrations responsible for the application of law

• The transformation of laws and procedures in the way mentioned above implies that appropriate administrations are organized

• All these developments are all the more important since the availability of a right to a plot of land is often a pre-condition to access to credit for personnel and investment needs.

Links between land tenure and access to credit (4.7)

• Not all land rights constitute effective collateral• In certain countries and certain situations, rights

others than ownership may be used as personal security, but not as real guarantee

• The issue is particularly sensitive for the poorest populations living in slum districts; obtaining a loan involves more than getting a guarantee: institutions that give credit have to be approachable by these populations


Session C: Managing land use and tenure

Key Learning Points:• There are many different needs for land parcels: in urban

areas for services, residential, commercial or industrial use, etc; in rural areas for agricultural or pastoral use, etc

• The legal statutes of land vary according to its projected use in each African nation, especially those whose legal system is founded on civil law principles

• Efficient land management requires many operational instruments and legal procedures (e.g. surveys for map production, land registration for property rights documentation, .) Disadvantaged groups can seldom understand or afford these instruments, and resort to illegal land occupancy and development as a result


SESSION C: Managing land use and tenure

Key Learning Points, continued:• Policymakers must understand the consequences of

land and tenure law, and housing and community facilities, for women-headed households, who form a significant proportion of urban residents in many countries

• Land tenure is an important precondition to access credit (for housing improvement or business activities)


Exercise

In your groups consider the following questions:

Q: How might decentralization contribute to improvements to housing and land management?

Q: What are the necessary conditions?


SESSION C: Urban management approaches to land and housing

Introduction (5.1)• Urban planning documents and approaches to

urban management

• Connections between urban planning and land tenure / occupancy types

• Planning and the needs of the urban poor

• Management, public facilities and infrastructure networks

• Exercise

Urban planning documents and approaches to urban management (5.2)

• The common thread in all planning documents is that they are required to deal with the city’s past, present and future needs, problems, and challenges.

• The decentralization process requires that planning procedures be adapted to meet local needs. However, while planning may be devolved, other legal texts regulating the exercise of such powers remain unchanged.

• General planning documents are typically accompanied by detailed plans; Detailed plans focus on the neighborhood or district scale or on specific sectoral issues

• More detailed plans can be undertaken at the parcel level. Parcel plans divide the site into private land parcels, delineate the access road network, and earmark spaces for community facilities and public amenities.

Connection between urban planning activities and land tenure and occupancy

types (5.3)

• Urban planning activities need to take into account the full array of land tenure and occupancy types and the applicable legal statutes

• Numerous legal planning instruments attempt to clarify legal status of lands and prepare them for development in accordance with urban planning regulations:– Instruments that have a dual legal and urban planning nature:

“concession d’aménagement foncier” (Côte d’Ivoire); the “zones d’aménagement concerté” and “zones d’aménagement différé” (France, Senegal)

– Ultimately, documentation and validation of existing land rights is a key prerequisite before undertaking urban planning activities.

• Land management and planning activities can be carried out either directly by technical departments in charge at the State or local level, or by independent quasi-public agencies

Urban planning and the needs of the urban poor (5.4)

• Technical standards of town planning and housing in disadvantaged areas need to be carefully considered, and discussed with affected populations

• Rehabilitation of irregular settlements: trend is a return to basic neighborhood infrastructure and services

• Upgrading should be linked to appropriate technical processes for affected populations and development needs

Urban management, public facilities and infrastructure networks (5.5)

• There is no single standard of city organization, in particular for networks

• Service facilities, the management of facilities, but also the investments, can be taken on, in whole or in part, by the private sector

• Options:– Direct management by an office of the local government

(often called “governed direct”)– Delegated project ownership – In certain cases, the solution can consist of a division of the

tasks


SESSION C: Managing land use and tenureKey Learning Points:• Elected representatives, executive officials, and civil servants

need to develop familiarity and experience with the various urban planning documents

• Urban planning documents contain various information on the uses, occupancy types, and legal status of the land (whether it is in public or private ownership)

• A major problem in many countries is that urban planning and land development regulations are not adapted to the needs and limited resources of disadvantaged groups

• One of urban management’s key functions is to formulate strategies for the delivery, maintenance and operation of services, public facilities, and infrastructure networks


Exercise

In your same groups consider the following questions:

Q: What are the links between urban planning / management and land tenure / property rights?

• Q: In your country, how do land tenure issues and urban regulations affect the urban poor?

• Q: How can municipalities reform their urban and land management practices?


Session D: Land and housing markets and local resources

Introduction (6.1)

• Efficient urban management• Reviewing local tax systems• Dual aspects of the land market• Property tax finance for public services and

income-generating facilities• Exercise

Effective urban management (6.2)

• Public property under local government jurisdiction—roads, facilities, open spaces, etc—that is not well maintained will require expensive rehabilitation

• Limited knowledge of land rights will limit the productivity of the local tax system. Generation of local taxes depends on:– Inventory of land uses and occupancy– Proper assessment – Efficient collection

Reviewing the local tax system (6.3)• The local tax system is viewed as an integral function of the

Central State • Citizens perceive the local tax system as a burden, with levies

by the State (taxes) and local authorities (local taxes, fines, different royalties, fees for market places, parking fees, etc.)

• To restore citizen confidence, it is necessary to restore the logic that payment of taxes and fees is in exchange for services

• The used plot of land can serve as a concrete point of reference, and as a factor of valuation, to create the idea of an exchange of possessions (the taxes and fees) against services

Dual aspect of the land market (6.4)• Land has both social and economic functions. Both functions

need to be recognized by local governments • Local governments and the State benefit from free market

dynamics by deriving direct revenues from land (registration fees, different royalties) and indirectly by taxing the appreciation in property values.

• But the land market is widely speculative and can exclude those for whom the land has a social use value

• For this target group, the public agencies need to take into account poor people’s needs and demands for land, which requires the minimal servicing of such lands, the development of effective targeting measures, and simplifying steps needed to obtain title and improve sites.

Property taxes in support of public services and income-generating facilities (6.4)

• Public income generating facilities: all facilities which are not directly managed by the private sector, or which are not granted to private entities on conditions foreseeing no payment to the community (e.g., slaughterhouses, markets, taxi and bus stations)

• The land law is one of the important legal conditions of the existence of these facilities, which are either part of the public domain, or the private domain of State or the local government

• The building of these facilities can be thus carried out only on a plot of land belonging to the one or other one of these administrations. Otherwise, the district will have to expropriate a private owner to obtain the necessary land

• The cost of this expropriation (because it generates reparations of compensation) must be strictly assessed based on the expected results of the project, including instances when results are not financial and direct.

• Environmental consequences of public income generating facilities (public health, pollution, congestion) need also to be factored into the “cost” of these facilities


Session D: Land and housing markets and local resources

Key Learning Points:• It is very important to understand the consequences of an

inadequate identification of local government’s territorial jurisdiction and of inefficient urban management

• Local government officials and elected representatives need to rethink the local tax system in view of a more effective urban management process

• Land markets have a dual aspect based on economic and social considerations

• Land price is an important determinant of the delivery of public services and facilities

• Environmental considerations (hygiene, pollution and congestion) also need to be taken into account when determining overall cost


Exercise

In your groups address the following question:

Q: What are the key ways (policies, actions and

interventions ranked by importance) in which local

governments can enable land and housing

delivery?

Module E: Land and Housing Management1. Introducing the fundamental principles of urban project...

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