Informal settlements’ needs and environmental conservation in Mexico City: An unsolved challenge for land-use policy

The aim of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of land-use policy in Mexico City in controlling the expansion of informal human settlements in peri-urban zones of high ecological value. It is argued that Mexico City's land-use policy has been reactive and internally inconsistent, failing to take informal settlements into account, has not offered the poor access to housing with adequate services and greater security in terms of land tenure, and lacks the necessary financial resources and institutional capabilities for providing solutions to these problems. Through a case study of informal settlement management policy in the Tlalpan Delegation,¹ applied in what has been termed SC or “Conservation Land,”² we conclude that local government exhibits an inability to confront the new challenge of urban sustainability, that it resorts to conventional solutions which give rise to contradictory situations where political decision-making prevails over ecological considerations, so land-use policy is permissive and does not halt informal urban expansion in areas of high environmental value.     

Planning for social inclusion: The impact of socioeconomic inequities on the informal development of farmland in suburban Beijing

Informal development on farmland is not only a major problem facing thousands of people, but also a major challenge to land use planning. In the rapidly growing literature on informal land development in China, most authors claim that ambiguous property rights and the dual land tenure system are the primary factors involved. As a result, existing state-led land use planning responses to informal development are solely focused on strengthening the legal regulation of land development. This paper challenges this approach, on the basis of the theory of urban informality. By examining many illegal gated communities in suburban Beijing, the paper argues that the informal development of farmland on the urban fringe is the result of local grassroots groups spontaneously responding to socioeconomic inequities in the context of transition to a market economy. These inequities mainly concern distributive inequity, procedural inequity and contextual inequity in relation to land use. It appears that the ongoing market-oriented initiatives of the state government could worsen informal land development unless these socioeconomic inequalities at the local level are tackled. The growing civil society is another change to the state's control of informal land development in China's cities. A new land use planning system which has more concern for social inclusion rather than focusing on centralized control is imperative in China.     

Compliance of land cover changes with municipal land use planning: Evidence from the Lisbon metropolitan region (1990–2007)

In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus representing one of the key human land cover changes with socio-economic and environmental impacts. In the Lisbon metropolitan region it is estimated that 17% of natural and farmland have been transformed into artificial areas. Since the end of 1990s, specific EU guidelines have been issued to contain urban sprawl and preserve agricultural land. Spatial planning in Portugal obviously is integrating these assumptions into the statutory land-use master plans. But what is the performance of this land use planning system regarding land cover evolution itself? Based on the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR), one of the major areas of urban growth in Portugal, we examine spatio-temporal land cover patterns between 1990 and 2007 by integrating cross-matrix analysis, spatial metrics, and gradient analysis. Additionally, we overlay these land cover dynamics with municipal master plans that regulate land development in order to assess the compliance levels of this land-use regulatory system. Results indicate that: artificial areas are growing by coalescence and/or by scattered development along an urban–rural gradient; agricultural land is reducing and fragmentation is increasing to enlarge peri-urban spaces; there are high levels of conversion of agricultural land into urban land in protected areas, thus showing a lack of compliance to the land use regulatory system visible in the existing gaps between the original land-use assignments of the master plan and the actual developments.     

Understanding value changes in the urban development process and the impact of municipal planning

An urban development process causes spatial changes and changes of associated property rights, and, as a consequence, the value of the property will change as well. This linkage between spatial changes, changes of associated property rights and property values represents an important element in understanding how property values change during the urban development process and the role of municipal planning as a value changing factor in the urban development process. The objective of this paper is to analyse how property values change throughout the urban development process, and further, to discuss the explanations for these changes by comprising the impact of municipal land-use planning. This paper presents a conceptual model showing how property values in urban development areas change during the urban development process and information about the extent to which value increases. The model is directed towards countries with a regulated land use, exemplified by Denmark.     

Participation in property formation: Insights from land-use planning in an informal urban settlement in Tanzania

This study argues that where land-use planning of any kind is conducted, it plays a supporting role that enables the property formation process to be effective. It uses evidence from Makongo Juu Settlement (in Tanzania) to reveal that the participation of actors with various levels of tenure awareness is necessary for property formation (land parceling). As the study is case-study focused, it uses data collected through a mix of procedures—including in-depth interviews, survey questionnaires, and documentary processes—analyzed qualitatively. Findings confirm that land-use planning introduces or embeds formal rules and regulations that govern the use of land. Furthermore, the study presents the affected persons’ narratives of their involvement in the property formation process. This medium allowed for an understanding of their perspectives of the property formation in the context of land-use planning. Apart from these empirical revelations (among other findings), the study contributes to land administration and land management literature in three ways. First, it outlines a typical outlook of formal and informal land development processes. Second, it deconstructs property formation in the context of land-use planning in an informal settlement. Thirdly, it presents the typical categories of actors (including their roles and viewpoints) in the participatory property formation process in an informal settlement. The study recommends that cadastral surveying (Property formation) and land-use planning should be better integrated for the formalization of property rights. This recommendation is considered necessary because there is evidence that land-use planning assigns rights (including restrictions and obligations or responsibilities) that owners and users of land have to follow in the property formation process.     

Mining towns and urban sprawl in South Africa

South Africa’s mining towns were established by mining companies mostly after World War II. The workforce lived in company-owned or privately-owned houses, or high-density compounds. Since the demise of apartheid, South African government policy for these towns has promoted integrated mining communities and homeownership. The government’s urban policy aims to densify the country’s urban areas, which have some of the lowest urban densities. This paper compares the changes in urban density and the unintended land-use implications of mining in settlements around five types of mines: iron ore, manganese, coal, gold and platinum, and in a combination of towns during periods of mining boom and bust. We ask how the South African legal framework addresses land issues that are associated with mining settlements, how urban density has evolved in the five case studies; and how this evolution should be explained. We argue that the sprawl is associated with historical path dependencies and interdependencies. Contributing factors are the need to house miners, the unintended consequences of policies designed to minimise compound living, changing labour regimes, the continuation of migrant labour and the presence of traditional-authority land. This sprawl is evident in market-driven housing, government-subsidised housing and informal settlement development.     

Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su–Xi–Chang region: Implications for building a new countryside in coastal China

This paper analyzes the spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region of coastal China experienced dramatic economic and spatial restructuring, using high-resolution Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) data in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006, and socio-economic data from both research institutes and government departments. To examine the spatial patterns of farmland and rural settlements and their change over time, a set of pattern metrics that capture different dimensions of land fragmentation was identified. The outcomes indicated that, to a large extent, land-use change from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region was characterized by a serious replacement of farmland with urban and rural settlements, construction land, and artificial ponds. Population growth, rapid industrialization and urbanization are the major driving forces of farmland change, and China's economic reforms played an important role in the transformation of rural settlements. China's “building a new countryside” is an epoch-making countryside planning policy. The focuses of building a new countryside in coastal China need to be concentrated on protecting the farmland, developing modern agriculture, and building “clean and tidy villages.” Rural construction land consolidation and cultivated land consolidation are two important ways to achieve the building objectives. The authors argue that it is fundamental to lay out a scientific urban–rural integrated development planning for building a new countryside, which needs to pay more attention to making the rural have certain functions serving for the urban. In addition, the cultural elements of idyll and the rural landscape need to be reserved and respected in the process of building a new countryside in coastal China, instead of building a new countryside, which looks more like a city.     

Climate change,urban energy and planning practices: Italian experiences of innovation in land management tools

Climate change and energy saving are challenging the city and the territorial organization. Innovative spatial and urban planning methods and procedures are required, and new approaches and instruments must be elaborated and applied in order to shift from the building scale to the urban and territorial ones. In fact, while energy saving and emission control measures are usually applied to single buildings, plants and technological systems, the urban and territorial scales are not fully considered, although energy consumption and greenhouse gases reduction are connected to the urban form and density, to activities allocation, to mobility, etc., thus involving spatial and land-use planning decisions. It is therefore urgent to overcome the divide between energy and urban planning by elaborating and using new implementation tools. In general, the usual top-down, public-led actions are no longer politically and economically viable, whereas new methods based on public–private partnerships are being progressively adopted. This is a major change, which may set new objectives for planning practices in terms of urban quality, equity, and energy efficiency. This perspective requires redefinition of the usual methods for development rights assignment, and the activation of new planning procedures based on the assessment of actions in terms of performance instead of conformance to pre-defined rules. The expected results regard a more efficient land market and better performing development (or re-development) choices.The article focuses on the Italian case and analyzes the possibility of integrating energy planning with spatial planning, the effectiveness of plan implementation mechanisms, and the prospect of integrate public-led interventions with market tools. Recent innovations in the legislative framework support the inclusion of energy saving and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals in plan implementation procedures.     

Assessing the fragmentation of construction land in urban areas: An index method and case study in Shunde, China

The fragmentation of construction land due to decentralised urban development, disorderly mixed land use, and large-scale transportation infrastructure poses a threat to urban integrity. There is a need to quantify the fragmentation level in a consistent way for inclusion in planning-related decisions. In the context of China's urban sprawl, this study develops a quantitative and intuitive index approach that planners can use to analyse multiple fragmentation features of construction land within urban areas. The approach can be used in planning policy reviews for timely land-use assessment and can be integrated into urban planning processes for developing strategic land-use scenarios. The method was applied in Shunde, a typical urban area in southern China, and construction-land fragmentation and its impacts on environmental quality were analysed. The results show that the entire built-up area in Shunde displays a high level of fragmentation. Patches of industrial and rural residence have been identified specifically higher fragmentation level. The shortage of available construction land makes land consolidation within built-up areas very important in planning Shunde's future development. Moreover, the land shortage requires the progressive reduction of construction land fragmentation. The results of the study also indicate that although land fragmentation has been affected by transportation infrastructure and the existence of rivers and hills in this region, decentralised decisions from hierarchical local governance regimes have greatly exacerbated this situation. Shunde provides examples of typical land-use problems associated with quasi-urbanised regions in China; construction-land fragmentation is a greater determinant for the sustainable development of urban and rural areas than construction-land growth.     

Major issues in Indonesia's urban land development

This article addresses issues of urban land development in Indonesia, including urban land use; ownership and transfers; land taxation; and land information systems. Until very recently, urban land-use planning in Indonesia was largely top-down in character and neglected to include the public as a stakeholder. This article argues that the role of government in urban land-use development needs to change at all levels and that the capacity of local government in land-use management needs to be strengthened. The presence of private developers in urban development should be encouraged. Land development permits—as a means of urban development control—while they may still be necessary should be granted primarily in relation to urban land-use plans (RUTR). Land taxation instruments have not been effectively applied to control land utilisation in the cities. Data and information on land affairs are lacking.     

Integrated research on land-use changes in the face of urban transformations – An analytic framework for further studies

We state that land use is under constant pressure, no matter if land-use changes take place in growing or shrinking cities. Land-use changes witness multiple interdependencies between environmental, social and economic factors. In urban areas land is highly exposed to accelerating consumption which makes it a scarce and precious resource. Therefore we need transformative processes to deal with land use in a more sensible and responsible way. We define urban transformations as fundamental, multi-dimensional changes in urban land-use patterns, population developments, infrastructures, governance regimes as well as established values, norms and behaviours. A central focus is on land use and its changes to supply ecosystem services as key driver for quality of life. Most important for us is that transformative processes are highly dynamic and non-linear, thus affecting functions of urban land uses in different ways and with varying consequences. In this sense, governance research is a decisive component to implement our research in practice. With this viewpoint we want to contribute to a debate on land-use changes in alternating growing and shrinking cities to foster appropriate development responses for urban transformations towards sustainability.     

Implications of land-use change in rural China: A case study of Yucheng,Shandong province

Based on surveys on rural land-use change at village scale in Yucheng City, Shandong province, this paper presents how land-use change takes place in response to inhibitive institutional forces in light of an outmoded land ownership system and unreasonable land use rights administration, and discusses it in the broader social context of industrialization, rural depopulation, a dual-track land market, and land use legislation. Spatial comparison of land use maps interpreted from aerial photographs in different period unveils a decrease in arable land for farming, and an increase in rural settlements, facilities land and unused land. Despite rural depopulation, rural settlements area nearly tripled during 1967–2008. Nearly all newly gained non-agricultural land originated from farmland at the village fringe while formerly facilities land and unused land had been converted to residential use and it was abandoned later. Thus, the destructive farmland conversion from productive use to non-agricultural uses took place at multiple stages. Questionnaire survey of 1650 households in 48 villages in Yucheng City indicated that 41% of the households had multiple dwellings, even though some of them are not occupied or even ruined. This finding may damp the rosy picture of the reportedly slowdown in China's farmland reduction in recent years as these destructive changes are too small to detect from satellite imagery, and it will also provide a practical scientific basis for constituting more strict farmland protection objectives and strategies for China in the near future. In order to hold back the destructive conversion trend from farmland to non-agricultural uses, the authors argue that policy and institution innovation concerning land use and urban–rural development in China needs feature highly in the government's agenda.     

Impact of formalisation of property rights in informal settlements: Evidence from Dar es Salaam city

This paper aims to study the responsiveness of the informal property market and management systems towards the introduction of land registration for informal settlements in Tanzania. City governments are increasingly recognising the need to strengthen legal rights for the urban poor as a means to bring them more effectively into the urban economy and ensure better provision of water, sanitation and other primary services. The research focuses on Tanzania and in particular two case studies within Dar es Salaam. The findings of the work suggest that the introduction of residential licenses whilst potentially assisting in creating legal certainty has not resulted in the financial sector accepting them as full security against loans. Accessing credit by the poor however has not yet been fully realised resulting in some further hurdles for the financial sector to overcome. Finally, and of some significance is the registration of property in the informal settlements has provided the opportunity of formal property transactions within these settlements.     

Urbanization,land use transformation and spatio-environmental impacts: Analyses of trends and implications in major metropolitan regions of Ghana

Urbanization induces spatial and environmental changes. Monitoring and understanding the nature of these changes is crucial to achieving sustainable urban development imperatives. To this end, this paper examines the evolution and spatio-environmental impacts of rapid urbanization in two major metropolitan regions of Ghana—Accra-City Region and the Greater Kumasi Sub-Region. The analysis uses Landsat satellite data and landscape metrics to examine land use transitions and to characterize the emergent landscapes over the last three decades. The results show that built-up land has increased significantly in these metropolitan regions largely at the expense of environmental land cover classes. The expansion process follows a general trend where the historical-core zones were initially sites of rapid land cover conversion to built-up, with settlements in the suburban and peripheral zones expanding in recent years and becoming integrated into the conterminous urban areas of the metropolitan regions. The analysis also uncovered a unique, dynamic and complex process whereby the urban-open-space class, being in a permanent state of flux, mediates transitions between built-up land and vegetation and vice versa. The metric-based land use transformation analysis shows that the landscape of the metropolitan regions has fragmented because of an increased expansion and aggregation of patches of built-up land in the core areas and leapfrog, sprawling expansion in the outlying suburban and peripheral zones. The paper concludes on the need for integrative urban growth management strategies that brings together spatial planning and environmental resource governance to avert the negative consequences on the natural environment of unfettered urban expansion.     

Drivers of informal settlements at the peri-urban areas of Woldia: Assessment on the demographic and socio-economic trigger factors

Though Ethiopia is one of the least urbanized countries of the world, its urban areas are expanding rapidly. Woldia, which is a Zonal town is no exception to this trend and situation. As a result of its rapid horizontal expansion and growth, Woldia is currently confronted with different types of urban problems. The emergence and growth of informal settlements is one of these challenges. To that end, this paper investigates the foremost demographic and socio-economic triggering factors that played key roles for the growth of informal settlements at the peri-urban areas of Woldia. In order to achieve the objective of the study, a questionnaire survey covering a total of 244 sample households was carried out in addition to in-depth interviews, FGDs and key informants. Accordingly, the income disparity; the rise in the lease price of urban land, and the meager compensation paid to peri-urban farmers during their lands expropriation are among the key economic drivers for the growth of informal settlements. Similarly, ever-increasing urban population and inefficient land provision, and lack of housing affordability compounded by the rise in the rental accommodation are the other triggers factors. All these factors, among others, point to the fact that socio-economic and demographic factors are all tied to the immediate growth of such settlements. Thus, lands at the periphery are misused and the situation has greatly contributed to the unlawful and rapid expansion of built-up areas in the city administration.     

3D cadastres for densely occupied informal situations: Necessity and possibility

Much of 3D cadastre research and development targets high valued urban land, including condominiums, apartment buildings, and office complexes. The value of the land and the economic activity generated from transactions in this urban space potentially support the cost and time spent on establishing and maintaining a 3D cadastre. Methods for data acquisition and for construction and maintenance of the 3D cadastre are also simpler in the regular and formally planned and surveyed structures of the high value urban environment. Low-income, urban areas of informal tenure and informal development, however, also need and can benefit from a land administration system supported by a 3D cadastre but are neglected in the 3D cadastre research. Mechanisms are required for quick and cost effective construction of a 3D cadastre in this type of area to support land management and regularisation procedures, and to provide security of tenure. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is one technology that may be examined to differentiate structures in densely occupied environments where limited information and limited resources must be able to be used for managing the land and also protecting informal rights.This paper initially posits the need for 3D cadastres in low-income but densely structured urban settlements. It then tests the ability of an existing LiDAR dataset together with orthoimagery, derived to be low cost so therefore having limited specifications, for capturing sufficient definition of 3D occupation in the low-income, densely structured case study area of Laventille in Trinidad and Tobago.The difficulties of manually or automatically discriminating between close and overlapping structures and boundaries are highlighted and it is found that there is still a need for adjudication and verification of boundaries on the ground, even when physical features can be discerned from the software.     

Redefining property rights over collective land in the urban redevelopment of Shenzhen,China

Urban development in China is based on two types of land ownership, namely, state land owned by states and collective land owned by village collectives. Legally speaking, urban development must be based on state land. In practice, informal development based on collective land has played important roles in the rapid urbanization process over the past decades. Nonetheless, the vague property rights over collective land have led to inferior and suboptimal development outcomes in expansive urban areas. The redevelopment of collective land has become an important means to sustain urban development in an ongoing urbanization process. By adopting theoretical perspectives from New Institutional Economics, this study presents an integrated conceptual framework on the institutional arrangements of land property rights and transaction costs to understand the changes in land policies and their institutional implications for the redevelopment of collective land in Shenzhen, China. The findings reveal that the new policies have redefined the relationship among the government, village collectives, and real estate developers as well as their property rights over collective land. The change of institutional arrangements in land property rights has significantly reduced the transaction costs in the redevelopment process and effectively promoted land redevelopment activities.     

Effects of local land-use planning on development and disturbance in riparian areas

Land-use change can significantly affect the provision of ecosystem services. On a local scale, zoning laws and other land-use regulations are commonly used to influence land-use change, but their effectiveness is often unclear. We evaluate the effectiveness of local land-use planning in concentrating development and minimizing impacts in riparian areas. We use spatially-explicit land cover data from the USGS Land Cover Trends project to measure development and disturbance rates before and after implementation of Oregon’s land-use planning system. We apply a difference-in-difference estimator to address the problem of non-random assignment of regulations on the landscape. We find that land-use laws in Oregon have concentrated development inside of UGBs and lowered development rates in riparian areas. However, disturbance in riparian areas has increased inside of UGBs. Overall, our findings suggest that local land-use planning can be an effective tool for promoting the provision of non-market ecosystem services.     

县域城乡融合发展与农村土地制度改革：理论逻辑与实现路径

研究目的：探究县域城乡融合发展与农村土地制度改革理论逻辑,为破解城乡发展困境、助力乡村振兴提供参考。研究方法：归纳演绎法与理论分析法。研究结果：城乡融合发展是城与乡在分工协作、生态宜居、要素流动、保障公平、服务均等、收入平衡6个方面的差距持续缩小的过程,具有土地要素流动受阻、人口外流与结构失衡、基层政府财力薄弱的县域问题表征,其关键在于围绕土地要素在城乡之间交换流动这一主线,深化农村土地制度改革。农村土地制度改革具有权益保障、激励约束和资源优化配置价值功能,对县域城乡融合发展具有木桶效应和联动效应。研究结论：推进县域城乡融合发展应围绕产权制度完善,以革新农地“三权分置”制度、宅基地使用制度、农村集体经营性建设用地入市制度补齐农村土地制度短板和完善农村土地市场机制为重点,从政府绩效考核、规划计划引领、财政金融支持、户籍制度保障等方面健全配套政策措施,实现县域城乡要素自由流动、功能深度耦合和权益均等化。     

Planning consistency and implementation in urbanizing China: Comparing urban and land use plans in suburban Beijing

The evaluation of the extent to which urban and land use planning have achieved their objectives is crucial to better management of urban land development. China’s urban and land use plans have the common purpose of controlling urban sprawl. This research aimed at comparatively assessing the consistency and implementation of these plans, considering the Changping District in suburban Beijing as a case study. Three main findings were obtained: (1) each plan used different strategies to control new developments, and there were several quantitative and spatial conflicts between the two plans; (2) neither plan has been well implemented or effective in controlling urban sprawl, despite the slightly better performance of the land use plan; (3) core-periphery decreasing trends were revealed in land quota allocation and effectiveness of planning implementation. Remote regular towns received the least land resources from the top-down planning system but also developed fast, mainly through informal and illegal approaches. Further investigation into the double failure of China’s current spatial planning system in quantitative and spatial control over urban land development requires a deeper integration of various spatial management systems, a fundamental transformation of planning philosophy, and a higher respect for peripheral areas in urban-rural integration. The planning assessment approach and reform recommendations developed on the basis of the Chinese practice are probably referable for other developing countries facing similar processes of rapid urbanization and imperfect spatial management.