Land Administration Åse Christensen Namibia University of Science and Technology Bachelor of Land Administration Bachelor of Property Studies Honours Semester 5 / 7, February 2016 Lection 6-7 1

Agenda Land Administration (LA): An overview – Definitions – Land Administration – Land Administration Systems 2

What is Land Administration? 3

Definitions The UN in 1996 defined LA: – “land administration” as the processes of recording and disseminating up-to-date information about ownership, value and use of land and it’s associated resources” 4

Definitions “ Land administration” can be defined in several ways, depending on how the term “administration” is understood and used (Van der Molen, 2002) public sector activities required to support the alienation, development, use, evaluation, and transfer of land. (Dale and McLaughlin, 1999) 5

Definitions “The process run by government using public- or private-sector agencies related to land tenure, land value, land use, and land development” (Williamson, Enemark, Wallacce & Rajabifard, 2010, p. 453). 6

Definitions FAO, 2007: Land administration is the way in which the rules of land tenure are applied and made operational. It includes land registration, land use planning, land consolidation, land management and property taxation. 7

Definitions However, this definition has been challenged for promoting a “western” perspective and for failing to cover certain issues that are pertinent to the context of African LA (Fourie et al., 2002). In the African context, where the majority of land is held under customary and informal tenure, LA falls outside the conventional cadastre/ land registration sphere. The definition of LA therefore needs to encompass a range of key issues: 8

Definitions Clarissa Fourie (now: Clarissa Augustinus): Such as governance, institutions, non-formal and informal land administration systems, ownership and occupancy rights, pro-poor issues and the decentralization of LA (Fourie et al., 2002; Österberg, 2002). Governance and institutional issues are critical to LA in Africa, where institutional restructuring and decentralization are often undertaken due to the weakness of the state and the importance of improving good governance (Fourie, 2002). 9

Definitions Nevertheless, the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UN-ECE’s) definition of LA still holds, especially when concepts of ownership, value and use are interpreted broadly (Van der Molen, 2006b). 10

Land Administration LA is not a new discipline Evolved out of the cadastre and land registration fields with focus on security of land rights LA functions: – Land tenure – Land value – Land use – Land development 11

Land Administration Imagine: – That tenure to land and property cannot be secured; – That mortgage loans cannot be established as basis for property improvement and business development; – That the use and development of land is not controlled through planning policies and regulations; – A slum area with a huge density and lacking basic occupation rights and without basic services. 12

Land Administration Systems Designed to address such problems; Providing basic infrastructure for implementing land-related policies and land management strategies; To ensure social equity, economic growth, environmental protection. 13

Land Administration Systems Might vary from country to country depending on i.e. needs: – Advanced conceptual framework supported by sophisticated ICT models Emergency management, environmental protection, economic decision making. – Fragmented and analog approaches Poverty alleviation, economic development, environmental sustainability, rapidly growing cities. 14