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This book covers land administration and reform in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is highly relevant to all developing countries around the world. It provides simple, practical steps to turn the hugely controversial subject of \"land grabs\" into a development opportunity by improving land governance to reduce the risks of dispossessing poor landholders while ensuring mutually beneficial investors' deals. This book shows how Sub-Saharan Africa can leverage its abundant and highly valuable natural resources to eradicate poverty by improving land governance through a ten point program to scale up policy reforms and investments at a cost of USD 4.5 billion. Formidable challenges to implementation are discussed. These include high vulnerability to land grabbing and expropriation with poor compensation, as about 90 percent of rural lands in Sub-Saharan Africa are undocumented, as well as timely opportunities since high commodity prices and investor interest in large scale agriculture have increased land values and returns to investing in land administration. The book argues that success in implementation will require participation of many players including Pan-African organizations, Sub-Saharan Africa governments, the private sector, civil society and development partners. Ultimate success will depend on the political will of Sub-Saharan Africa governments to move forward with comprehensive policy reforms and on concerted support by the international development community.

Land registration systems are very essential for property ownership management. The exited land registry systems are less efficient and time-consuming and expose to human errors. By using blockchain technology, most of the principles of good governance in land administration such as transparency and efficiency can be fulfilled. However, there is a lack of experience in developing blockchain-based land registry systems. This paper proposes a blockchain-based adoption framework for land registry management in Malaysia. It elaborates more on developing a prototype that fulfills the main functions of current land registration by using smart contract functionalities. Also, this paper illustrates the main challenges of adopting this technology such as expertise shortage of software developers, implementation difficulties due to scalability of the land transactions, data sharing with different types of blockchain and lack of security attacks resistance. Therefore, there is a need to form an agreed-upon blockchain development platform that meet such constraints.

Improvement of the land cadastre information system in the administrative district will make more efficient use of the land fund. More than 42,000 land users in Kibray, which is the object of the research, can quickly manage land resources through the creation of land information systems. As a result, the use of specialized software at the district level increases the quality of the specialists’ work compared to traditional methods, and time consuming 3 and 5 times the amount of data transmission to consumers. The collected and regulated data will serve as the main source of the unified system of land registration in Kibray district and the creation of a special land fund and its rational distribution among land users. The method developed to compile a digital cadastre map based on an example of an administrative district is the basis for the registration of land parcel and, in turn, the land fund distribution. Information on the state of land resources is mainly collected in the State Land Cadastre. Registration of the rights to the land parcel, the main component of which is the re-registration of new land users and the existing ones, requires the most up-to-date information on the land cadastre.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish the importance of land records for urban development. The study focuses on how traditionally land records were managed and presently what are the important parameters impacting the land record management systems in India.Design/methodology/approachThe framework adopted for the study was as follows: 1) literature study: aim to study the historical issues, to study global systems across the globe, various government reforms. 2) Present system of land management: to study the administrative, legal, economic issues, problems and potential in the present system. 3) Technology interventions: to study how technology can help to make the system more robust and trustworthy. 4) Conclusion: to study how the recommended technological measures will work and how to implement it in the system. Several pilot interviews were carried out to understand how the present system of land record management works in India, and important parameters were established through the pilot interviews of various stakeholders in the system.FindingsThe study brings out certain striking facts about the inefficiencies in the system since centuries, which are still being carried forward. Any reforms by the authorities have not been able to solve the issues and reduce the number of litigations because digitisation was only a step forward to replicate the wrong entries of records in digitised format. Thus, a paradigm shift in technology is required to bring a considerable change in the present management system.Originality/valueVarious studies worldwide have been done in several countries regarding land records, but all the studies are in piecemeal basis. Very less literature is available on the study that how land records effect large scale urban development projects. This study is an attempt to study impact of land records on urban development and to bring back transparency in the system to reduce the number of litigations on the most important ingredient of built environment, which is land.

To properly govern people-to-land relationships, there is a need to formally recognize land rights, and for this to bring recognizable societal change, the established Land Information System (LIS) has to be updated continuously. Though existing literature suggests different parameters to consider when updating an LIS, little is said on how countries are doing this, especially when unconventional approaches through systematic land registration were initially used. This paper comes up with recommendable good practices where the suggested needs for updating land records were made workable. Nine countries with similar data collection procedures for the initial registration were selected based on literature study; questionnaires designed and distributed to LIS experts from each country using internet; and the collected data were analyzed qualitatively. Fortunately, all the case countries possess infrastructure supporting land records updating (procedures, mobilization means, institutional and legal frameworks, and so on). For the majority, the systems are simplified; registration fees are reasonable; services are decentralized; the database is accessible by citizens and local officers; staff are trained; the system effectiveness is assessed; and the political support is offered. However, the procedures are long, data sharing is inexistent, financial and technical sustainability is uncertain, and many different institutions are involved in the registration. Whilst updating used to appear as a forgotten activity, good practices now exist.

The study examined the effectiveness of a community-operated land record system (CRS), a product of an evolutionary information system planning approach under hybrid governance arrangements in Monwabisi Park informal settlement in Cape Town. To structure the analysis, the authors adapted an analytical framework for analysing land registration effectiveness to community records systems. It serves as a tool for analysing, designing and managing similar information systems. The CRS is an element of a participatory planning and development project involving a triad: (a) community-based organisations (CBOs); (b) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which has acted as a change agent, facilitator and resource provider; and (c) the City of Cape Town. The hybrid governance institutions comprised a set of local community and government protocols. Of further significance are the organisational cultures of the CBOs, and the NGO’s information system team differs markedly from that of most land registries.

The urban land administration system (LAS) of any country serves as a key pillar for good governance, resource planning, service delivery, infrastructure development, and revenue collection. To reform their LASs, countries need a thorough understanding of their existing context and global relevance. The goal of this paper is to examine the status and challenges of urban LASs in Pakistan using the United Nations Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA). The exploratory case study method used in the paper employs a mixed approach, which includes FELA-based questionnaire surveys, group discussions, and desk reviews. A total of 525 urban LAS stakeholders, including owner-buyers, real estate agents, bankers, lawyers, and LAS organizations, participated in the activity. The results show that more than half of the stakeholders are not satisfied with existing urban LASs, their governance and accountability, laws, and policies. Corruption is prevalent mostly in government organizations. Fraud and joint ownership are the most common sources of dispute, with 67 percent of the respondents stating that the cases take more than two years to resolve in court. The financial aspect of urban LASs is suffering due to property undervaluation and low revenue collection. Manual data and record keeping in LASs further complicate the system, with 87 percent of all respondents interested in innovating the urban LAS using modern technologies. Furthermore, 92 percent of all respondents expressed the need to standardize the existing LASs. There is a lack of capacity and skills, and 89 percent of organizations’ respondents believe that human resources skilled in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) can improve the efficiency of urban LASs. There is a lack of partnership among LAS organizations and a gap in the accessibility of LAS-related quality information. The country’s vision of building smart cities can be realized through LAS standardization and 3D and GIS innovation.

Questions: Can small and isolated high-conservation value forests (e. g. designated woodland key habitats) maintain old-growth forest characteristics and functionality in fragmented landscapes? To what extent have past disturbances (natural and anthropogenic) influenced the development of old-growth characteristics of these forests? How long does it take for selectively cut stands to attain conditions resembling old-growth forests? Location: Southern boreal zone of central Sweden. Methods: We linked multiple lines of evidence from historical records, biological archives, and analyses of current forest structure to reconstruct the forest history of a boreal landscape, with special emphasis on six remaining core localities of high-conservation value forest stands. Results: Our reconstructions revealed that several of these stands experienced wildfires up to the 1890s; all had been selectively harvested in the late 1800s; and all underwent substantial structural and compositional reorganization over the following 100-150 years. This time interval was sufficient to recover considerable amounts of standing and downed dead wood (mean 60.3 m³ ha⁻¹ ), a range of tree ages and sizes (mean basal area 32.6 m² ha⁻¹), and dominance of shade-tolerant spruce. It was insufficient to obtain clearly uneven tree age structures and large (> 45cm diameter) living and dead trees. Thus, these forests contain some, but not all, important compositional and structural attributes of old-growth forests, their abundance being dependent on the timing and magnitude of past natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Our landscape-level analysis showed marked compositional and structural differences between the historical forest landscape and the present landscape, with the latter having a greater proportion of young forests, introduction of nonnative species, and lack of large trees and dead wood. Conclusions: The remnant high-conservation value stands were not true representatives of the pre-industrial forests, but represent the last vestige of forests that have regenerated naturally and maintained a continuous tree cover. These traits, coupled with their capacity for old-growth recovery, make them valuable focal areas for conservation.

Little consensus surrounds the extent of Native American impacts upon tree species composition in Eastern North America, prior to European-American settlement (presettlement). Native American land-use practices (e.g., forest clearance and burning) likely altered forest composition, but the spatial extent of these alterations remains vaguely quantified. Previous research has attempted to quantify the spatial extent of clearance practices, but little research has addressed the more subtle alterations to tree species composition resulting from Native American land use. Research has also inadequately distinguished between environmental and anthropogenic controls upon tree species composition, leaving open the possibility that, instead of modifying forest composition, Native American societies instead settled where favored tree species were already present. This study employed species distribution models (SDMs) trained from tree species data within presettlement land survey records (PLSRs), in order to understand Native American impacts upon presettlement tree species composition in Chautauqua County, New York. Using historical and archaeological data, this study developed \"Native American variables\" (NAVs), which represented human accessibility to features of Iroquoian settlement. This study then modeled the distribution of tree species in relation to both environmental variables and NAVs. Notable results indicate that NAVs significantly improved the predictive performance of SDMs for mast-bearing taxa, such as oak ( Quercus spp.), chestnut ( Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.), and hickory ( Carya spp.). Under a simulated absence of Iroquoian settlement, the amount of \"suitable\" area in Chautauqua County decreased by 2 to 23 percentage points for five mast-bearing taxa, depending upon species and modeling procedure. Results imply that Iroquoian alterations to tree species composition covered a larger spatial extent, in comparison to previous estimates of the spatial extent of clearance practices in Iroquoian regions. Yet, the majority of forest compositional modifications occurred within 10 to 15 km of village sites. This study offers a novel methodology for quantifying Native American impacts upon past tree species composition, and suggests that Iroquoian land-use practices of the early Historic era shaped forest compositional patterns at local extents in one region of presettlement Eastern North America.

Land is a key component of the wealth of any nation. Throughout history, virtually all civilizations have spent considerable time defining land rights and establishing institutions to administer them. Well-defined, secure, and transferable rights to land are crucial to development efforts. In developing countries, most land is used for agricultural production, a mainstay of economic sustenance. The possession of land rights also typically ensures a baseline of shelter and food supply and allows people to turn latent assets into live capital through entrepreneurial activity. Once secure in their land rights, rural households invest to increase productivity. Moreover, the use of land as a primary investment vehicle allows households to accumulate and transfer wealth between generations. The ability to use land rights as collateral for credit helps create a stronger investment climate and land rights are thus, at the level of the economy, a pre-condition for the emergence and operation of financial markets. Property rights to land are one of the cornerstones for the functioning of modern economies. This book looks first at the historical, conceptual, and legal contexts of property rights to land. It then considers aspects of land transactions, including the key factors affecting the functioning of rural land markets. Finally, it explores the scope and role of governments and land policy formation and discusses ways in which developing countries can establish land policy frameworks that maximize social benefit.