Location
"Urban LandMark" is short for the Urban Land Markets Programme Southern Africa. Based in Pretoria, the programme was set up in May 2006 with seven years of funding from the UK's Department for International Development until March 2013. The initiative is now hosted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.
Urban LandMark was designed to play a short-term, catalytic role. Between 2006 and 2013 it was financially managed by FinMark Trust. FinMark Trust is already applying the 'making markets work for the poor' thinking in financial and housing markets, which are relevant to the urban land markets question.
What we do
Urban LandMark is working to make urban land markets work for the poor by:
- Defining what 'making markets work for the poor' means for urban land and developing a distinctive voice for this approach,
- Mobilising diverse players, including the private sector and civil society, to come up with innovative ways to achieve this objective,
- Promoting policy dialogue between people , and
- Bringing about change in government policy and implementation, and in private sector praxis.
Five areas of activity
Research
Research projects cover four sectors: people, place, governance and the market, in an integrated way.
Dissemination
Research is disseminated widely to industry, government, NGOs and other interested people.
Support
Individuals affiliated with Urban LandMark are available to government and the private sector to take part in task teams.
Professional development
To ensure industry professionals incorporate MMW4P ideas in their work, we assist with the development of courses and academic exchange programmes as well as forums and seminars.
Networking and advocacy
We develop and maintain relationships with industry and government players, and build partnerships with academic institutions and organisations, local and international, working on urban land issues to share information and participate in joint activities.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 11 - 15 of 36Reducing the vulnerability of urban slum dwellers in the Southern African region to the impact of climate change and disasters
Current estimates of climate change state that the world’s average temperature is due to increase by at least 2oC to 2.4oC over the next 50?100 years. Furthermore it is expected that by the end of the century a range of additional impacts will be felt: sea levels will rise by an estimated 60cm, resulting in flooding and the salinisation of fresh water aquifers, and snow and ice cover will decrease. Simultaneously, precipitation patterns will change so that some areas will receive large increases whilst other areas will become hotter and drier.
Small-scale private rental in South Africa
This case study draws on research that aimed to provide greater understanding of the small-scale private rental market in South Africa. The
Strategies to help poor people access urban land markets
This case study draws on research that examines
Packaging township development projects
There are no simple solutions for leveraging the project inputs required for the success of township development projects. In most cases, such projects require long planning and implementation periods, the involvement of numerous agencies, and ample persistence and skill. This paper will examines how the inputs for successful township development projects can be mobilised and managed through the course of a project.
Urban management: the redevelopment of the Mitchells plain town centre
Mitchells Plain is about 20km from the Cape Town city centre. It was built in the 1970s as a township for people classified as ‘Coloured’, who were forcibly removed from areas that had been declared ‘whites only’ under the Group Areas Act. Various attempts were made to upgrade the Mitchells Plain Town Centre (MPTC) after the advent of democracy in 1994, but these were disjointed and lacked a champion to drive the process.