Urban Land and Development Management in a Challenged Developing World: New Reflections

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 19066

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Science, Engineering and Environment, Maxwell Building, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
Interests: land use planning and urban development processes; land/property and natural resource administration and management; heritage conservation and management; real estate and development economics; urbanisation, urban growth, governance, and housing; environment and sustainable development; infrastructure development and financing; property valuation and management

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Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: sustainable real estate (RE); RE economics; RE management; RE securitisation; RE finance and development; RE valuation; emerging RE markets; land property rights in the developing world

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research and practice evidence have long-established weaknesses in urban land and development management in the developing world. These weaknesses are reflected in low land registration rates; lack of compliance with development regulations; lack of access to land for development and insecure land and property rights for the marginalised, such as the poor and women; poor land records; weak institutional capacities and land valuation systems, poor housing conditions; and inadequate infrastructure and its funding regimes, among others. Indeed, evidence shows, for instance, two main growing urban forms in the developing world, the largest being unregulated urban form characterised by informal settlements where land rights are often insecure and there is a lack of adequate infrastructure and services, and new towns/gated communities/satellite cities, which are planned and provided with amenities. 

There are increasing concerns that the above adverse outcomes will worsen with rising levels of urbanisation, which are intense in the developing world, particularly Africa and Asia. Closely aligned to this is the threat to the existence of important historical heritage sites through the conversion of these sites into real estate development for private economic gains. Meanwhile, there are huge problems with proper leasehold planning and management, especially for colonial leasehold land agreements, which are beginning to expire vis-à-vis other leasehold land grants.

Since the end of the Cold War, new land reforms have continued to take place across many developing countries. These reforms predominantly focus on land governance and partly aim to improve access to land, tenure security, and promote socioeconomic progress by alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, increasing food security, and addressing climate change, among other things. The adoption of land-based financing arrangements to fund urban infrastructure development to reduce the existing deficit has also been strongly recommended. More recently, following the establishment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a New Urban Agenda (NUA) has also been formulated and adopted by the UN. Although some developing countries are undertaking programmes and projects to improve urban land and development management post the above initiatives and recommendations, there seems to be a dearth of evidence of work, both scholarly and practice-based, in the literature on efforts being made towards improvement—more so in a coordinated manner, with a collection of works across the developing world.

This Special Issue aims to bring together a systematic collection of works across the developing world providing insights into new efforts being made or that can be made to improve urban land and development management in the developing world. The similar but nuanced nature of the urban land and development management challenges in the developing world requires experiences to be shared and lessons to be learnt amongst constituent countries. It is, therefore, based on this foregoing rationale that this Special Issue is fashioned.

Topics for the Special Issue 

This Special Issue invites both conceptual and empirical submissions that investigate new and emerging initiatives, programmes, projects, etc. that border on improvement in urban land development management in the developing world through both theoretical and practical lenses. 

The contributions may address but are not limited to the following research topics: 

  • Land tenure and governance;
  • Land-based financing arrangements for urban infrastructure development;
  • Land and real estate valuation systems; 
  • Housing and informal land developments;
  • Urban heritage sites management; and
  • Land and real estate leasehold planning and management.

Dr. Kwasi Gyau Baffour Awuah
Dr. Raymond Abdulai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Governance
  • Heritage sites
  • Housing
  • Informal developments
  • Land-based financing
  • Land security
  • Leasehold planning
  • Valuation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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12 pages, 430 KiB  
Editorial
Urban Land and Development Management in a Challenged Developing World: An Overview of New Reflections
by Kwasi Gyau Baffour Awuah and Raymond T. Abdulai
Land 2022, 11(1), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010129 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4556
Abstract
The urban development and management challenges of the developing world are well documented in the literature. However, the global built environment landscape is undergoing rapid changes. These changes are steeped in three fundamental imperatives, which have serious implications for the developing world. These [...] Read more.
The urban development and management challenges of the developing world are well documented in the literature. However, the global built environment landscape is undergoing rapid changes. These changes are steeped in three fundamental imperatives, which have serious implications for the developing world. These imperatives are population growth and rising urbanisation; environmental challenges, particularly climate change and the quest to embrace sustainability as a panacea; and advances in technological development. This paper discusses these three imperatives with the view to teasing out their implications for urban development and management in the developing world. Consistent with the literature, the paper establishes that most of the population growth and rising urbanisation are occurring in the developing world, particularly Africa and Asia, and although these phenomena have the tendency to increase economic density and promote both private and public investment in urban development, especially construction/housing and related infrastructure activities, there are and will be several problems with them. These include land tenure insecurity, lack of access to decent affordable housing and the threat of destruction to heritage sites. Furthermore, environmental challenges such as poor waste management, and climate change are and will remain pressing issues requiring the adoption of sustainability credentials because of legislative requirements, moral suasion, and value addition. Despite the potential disruptive nature of technology with respect to some aspects of the built environment, it is recognised that advances in technology are essential to the achievement of optimal urban development and management outcomes in the developing world. The paper, therefore, recommends better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and political forces underlying urban growth in the developing world, factoring in technology and sustainability in urban development and management, and collaboration among relevant actors, particularly government and the private sector, for optimal outcomes. Full article
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Research

Jump to: Editorial

23 pages, 34165 KiB  
Article
Study of Disaster Susceptibility and Economic Vulnerability to Strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction Instruments in Batu City, Indonesia
by Firre An Suprapto, Bambang Juanda, Ernan Rustiadi and Khursatul Munibah
Land 2022, 11(11), 2041; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11112041 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2001
Abstract
Batu City in East Java has a thriving tourist area, which is not exempt from disaster susceptibility and economic vulnerability. These weaknesses have led to the strengthening of the disaster resilience system becoming a priority in terms of the Batu government’s disaster risk [...] Read more.
Batu City in East Java has a thriving tourist area, which is not exempt from disaster susceptibility and economic vulnerability. These weaknesses have led to the strengthening of the disaster resilience system becoming a priority in terms of the Batu government’s disaster risk reduction. The main objective of this study is to improve disaster risk management through the reinforcement of the disaster risk reduction instrument, which can improve the alertness and the mitigation capability of DRR. This research analyzed the susceptibility levels of five disasters—flood, landslide, drought, land fire, and COVID-19—using a quantitative method with panel data and a survey questionnaire. The influence variable was disaster susceptibility, which quantified economic vulnerability through ArcGIS and ILWIS analysis to generate the disaster susceptibility rate. Economic vulnerability was analyzed using static panel data in STATA/R, which generated the economic vulnerability index. The results of this research indicate that there are five villages in the high level of vulnerability category, three villages in the moderate level of vulnerability category, and another sixteen villages/urban villages in the low level of vulnerability category. Furthermore, static panel analysis found that local economic vulnerability in Batu is significantly influenced by three of the five disasters discussed in this research. Full article
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18 pages, 38534 KiB  
Article
Industrial Park Role as a Catalyst for Regional Development: Zooming on Middle East Countries
by Soniya Falahatdoost and Xingping Wang
Land 2022, 11(8), 1357; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081357 - 19 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3311
Abstract
The development of the industrial park has been one of the priorities of the plans of different countries and has created a magnitude challenge concerning regional disparities. Globally, the Middle Eastern countries have demonstrated a more remarkable dedication to industrial park development, given [...] Read more.
The development of the industrial park has been one of the priorities of the plans of different countries and has created a magnitude challenge concerning regional disparities. Globally, the Middle Eastern countries have demonstrated a more remarkable dedication to industrial park development, given its general importance since the 1970s. Due to this importance, this paper is divided into three sections due to the critical role of industrial park development in the case of Middle Eastern countries. First, this study highlighted the relevant literature using Scinotometric analysis. In the second step, following the investigation of the relationship between selected critical variables and the development of industrial parks towards regional development in the Middle Eastern countries from 2000 to 2018. In this regard, panel data were used to determine the association between the selected variables and industrial park performance. According to the findings, the author suggests policy implementation for industrial park development in three categories: economic growth, environmental issues, and reduction in regional disparities. Finally, this study can serve as a foundation for future research, such as comparing the first batch of industrial parks with their upgraded counterparts in the Middle East and studying the competitive advantages issues. Full article
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20 pages, 588 KiB  
Article
Valuation Problems in Developing Countries: A New Perspective
by Irene Cheloti and Manya Mooya
Land 2021, 10(12), 1352; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121352 - 8 Dec 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7444
Abstract
Valuation problems, such as valuation inaccuracies/variations, client influence, and the use of heuristics, are common problems in property valuation practice globally. These problems have generated debate in recent times under the rubric of “behavioural issues in valuation”. This paper examines valuation problems in [...] Read more.
Valuation problems, such as valuation inaccuracies/variations, client influence, and the use of heuristics, are common problems in property valuation practice globally. These problems have generated debate in recent times under the rubric of “behavioural issues in valuation”. This paper examines valuation problems in developing countries, as well as the current efforts that are undertaken to address these problems, with a view of determining the best approach to explain and/or address them. This stems from the persistence of valuation problems despite efforts undertaken to improve the practice of valuation. The study involves a survey of registered and practising valuers in Kenya. Respondents were asked to indicate valuation problems in practice, adopted strategies, and recommendations to address the said problems. It emerged from the study that valuation problems not only result from valuer misconduct but also market-related problems/the valuation environment in developing countries. The study further found that efforts to address these problems are mainly focused on improving valuer conduct while neglecting market-related problems (problems related to the nature of the valuation environment in developing countries). Based on these findings, the study concludes that valuation problems in practice are better understood in the context of both categories, i.e., valuer conduct and market-related problems, and recommends a holistic approach to address these problems by categorising them appropriately. Full article
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