Designing a Land Records System for the Poor is the first attempt to fill the gaps in the development of new forms of land recordation to assist the implementation of a continuum of land rights approach at scale. It is about the development of the initial design of a pro-poor land recordation system - a recording system aimed at supporting the recognition and protection of a range of rights of the poor.

Everyone has a relationship to land. It is an asset that, with its associated resources, allows its owner access to loans, to build their houses and to set up small businesses in cities. In rural areas, land is essential for livelihoods, subsistence and food security. However, land is a scarce resource governed by a wide range of rights and responsibilities. And not everyone’s right to land is secure. Mounting pressure and competition mean that improving land governance - the rules, processes and organizations through which decisions are made about land - is more urgent than ever.

This technical publication documents and draws lessons from the Philippines' experience in implementing alternative approaches in securing tenure for the urban poor. It also explores how these approaches can be institutionalized to achieve a larger scale and ensure sustainability. The study examines three approaches: presidential land proclamations, the Community Mortgage Program, and the usufruct arrangement. The key features of each approach are described and their application illustrated through two actual cases

This publication, Monitoring Security of Tenure in Cities: People, Land and Policies, presents an innovative method to ascertain the extent to which security of tenure can be measured at three main levels. Targeting cities in developing countries, the methodological framework presented in this publication is entrusted in the concept of continuum of land rights where tenure can be realised at various levels: individual, household, settlement or community, city and national levels. Various options to measure tenure security at each of these levels are presented.

This guide will assist land experts, government officials, donors and others involved in land information projects to avoid the costly development of an urban land information system that is too complicated, cannot be sustained or fails to support urban land management. The framework is based on various case studies that are contained in Urban Land Information Management, a report that is available at www.gltn.net.

Nelle società contemporanee i conflitti territoriali sono ormai diventati più frequenti e diffusi dei conflitti sociali. Il loro tratto caratteristico è costituito da comunità che difendono il loro territorio da aggressioni esterne che possono essere costituite tanto da manufatti invasivi, quanto da insediamenti umani sgraditi. Questo articolo si propone di rispondere a tre domande: 1) perché si sono diffusi in questi ultimi venti anni? 2) qual è il “vero” oggetto del contendere? 3) come possono essere affrontati, con quali possibili sbocchi?

This paper describes how urbanization and climate change shape water insecurity in two villages, Sultanpur and Jhanjhrola Khera in periurban Gurgaon in the North-West Indian state of Haryana. Using ethnographic and participatory approaches, it documents the people's lived experience of a changing climate and water insecurity. While urbanization and climate variability alter the availability of water, the effects of this are aggravated by a complex interaction of caste, class, gender and locational factors.

Urban land markets have a profound effect on how well poor households are able to access the jobs, amenities and services offered in the city. But often the way in which this market works frustrates attempts to open up better located living and business opportunities for poorer urban households and communities, despite government policies and programmes intended to address these challenges. The challenge in South Africa is even larger because of worsening poverty and inequality, and the continuing growth of cities through urbanisation.

The patterns of urban sprawl over a 20-year period presented in the study indicate unplanned development in the urban agglomerations of Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad. The visual interpretation of Landsat (1986, 1991, 1996 and 2001) and IRS-P6 (2005) was used to map land use/land cover and analyse urban sprawl. The saturation of urban areas within municipal limits, along with pressure from the growing population, resulted in the densification of the core urban areas within Dhanbad and Jamshedpur.

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.

This paper presents findings of a land-use and land-cover (LULC) change mapping exercise conducted in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Nine LULC classes were mapped from multi-temporal Landsat data of 1974, 1986 and 2000. Special attention was given to the growth or otherwise of agricultural land in relation to other LULC classes. Conversion of one land-use/-cover type to the other was identified, and its effects discussed. Major conversions occurred between agricultural lands, grasslands, evergreen forest, built-up areas and barren land.

A scientific approach to urban planning is required to ensure environmental protection and ecological sustainability. This paper presents a range of urban land-use scenarios and their implications for urban development and economic demand in the Old Town of Lijiang. Using geographic information system (GIS) and questionnaire analysis, three future urban planning scenarios were created based on data and storylines for the Lijiang region. In all scenarios, urban growth arises from population increase due to tourism and economic change.