Nairobi River Basin is a complex of several parallel rivers that flow through the City of Nairobi and empty into a larger river and flow to the Indian Ocean. The rivers are polluted with garbage, industrial liquid effluence, agro-chemicals, petro-chemicals among others. This situation has occasioned spread of water-borne diseases, loss of sustainable livelihoods, loss of biodiversity, reduced availability and access to safe potable water, and the insidious effects of toxic substances and heavy metal poisoning which affects human productivity.

These documents summarise Urban LandMark's approach to incrementally securing tenure in informal settlements. This approach emphasises practical mechanisms that allow land rights to be upgraded over time. It has been developed from a range of activities, including input from research papers, a considerable number of interviews, and the testing of different processes with municipalities. The second report focuses on the notion of local land offices and their potential for promoting tenure security and incremental tenure processes. 

Recognising that the Managed Land Settlement (MLS) approach is not new to the South African housing and service delivery environment, the purpose of this report is to explore the lessons that can be learnt from programmes and projects which have adopted an MLS-like approach to greenfields development. The report contains five case studies from across South Africa, focusing on programmes that have been successfully implemented over the past 15 years. With funding from Urban LandMark, the report was commissioned by

A well-functioning land administration and management system is crucial for Madagascar's economic and social future. Land is implicated in Madagascar's ongoing economic development and social transformation in many important ways, as key a factor in its quest for economic growth, urbanization, transparent decision-making on land-related foreign investments, environment protection, vibrant and sustainable rural communities, political stability, and social cohesion.

Focuses on tackling land issues in post-conflict states. Root of problem is that most rural populations are little better than squatters on their own land in the eyes of the law. Remedy is to acknowledge customary land rights as equivalent to private property rights.

La présente loi fixe les principes fondamentaux applicables en matière d’urbanisme en République du Tchad. L’Etat a la responsabilité de la conception de la politique, de la réglementation et des mesures en matière d’urbanisme du territoire national. Chaque collectivité territoriale décentralisée est responsable de l’application des me- sures d’urbanisation de son territoire. L’Etat transfère progressivement aux collectivités territoriales décentralisées les compétences leur permettant de gérer, dans le respect des lois et règlements de la République du Tchad

Citywide Strategic Planning articulates the necessary ingredients for initiating and implementing a planning process that focuses on a set of strategic issues of principal importance for sustainable urban development. The guide presents the citywide strategic planning rationale and approach. Three main questions are addressed – where are we today? - where do we want to be? -how do we get there?

The young man was scared. The city government had instructed him to count the shacks in the settlement. He arrived smartly dressed carrying a briefcase and clipboard with pen in hand and a list of the shacks. His job was to find any new shacks without the official number painted on the door. But he immediately ran into problems. The local residents confronted him, asking what he was doing. Soon a small crowd had gathered. They took him into the community hall, where a meeting was under way. He explained that the city had sent him, but the local people were suspicious.

The study provides the background and objectives of the Athens workshop, then provides separate in-depth background and analysis of the informal development solutions being adopted in Albania and Greece. Following a review of just how ‘pro-poor’ the solutions are, the final chapter provides a series of lessons learned, many of which can be applied to other countries experiencing informal development issues.

This situational analysis of metropolitan Port-au-Prince gives in-depth background to the city’s condition in terms of urban development and planning. The report maps a way forward for future planning of the metropolitan area. It argues that the main stakeholder for any urban development intervention should be the state, and more precisely the municipalities. The municipalities in Port-au-Prince need support in planning and delivering basic services.

This Handbook introduces key economic and related concepts explaining the functioning of urban land markets. You will find in this Handbook tools for engaging in a critical analysis of conventional economics, particularly in the understanding of how African urban land markets work. Of great importance is the understanding of how land use, supply and demand unfold in African context. It provides a basis for strengthening urban policy in ways that enable poorer people in African cities to access well-located living and work spaces.