13 - 14 March 2013, Johannesburg, South Africa
For many decades now, donor organisations and governments have invested considerable amounts in investigating and promoting better urban governance towards more just and equitable cities in the global south. Over the last ten years, focus has also shifted towards understanding how people engage in market systems. And we ask whether improved property rights are sufficient to significantly change people's access to urban land, housing, services, and economic opportunities.
There is a growing body of empirically-based knowledge which indicates that there is indeed a link between property rights, market access and improved urban livelihoods. If this is so, we need to ask:
- How best do we translate this knowledge into changes in practice?
- Is the evidence-base making any difference to how urban areas are governed, to whether tenure security is improving, and to whether people have greater access to information and to more habitable land and shelter?
- Are the economics of access to land any fairer as a result of the work done by well-meaning researchers and policy analysts?
This leads to the next level of challenges. If not enough change is happening, how can the impact of the many donor agencies and governments working in the field be improved? Is there real evidence to show which programmes work and why?
This is what our Annual Conference investigated, under the theme "Moving from Knowledge to Change" held from 13 to 14 March 2013. The transcript of the conference is available here [2MB download]
Presentation
Paper
Biography
Wednesday 13 March 2013 |
Session 1: Moving from knowledge to change |
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Introducing the theme: From knowledge to change - stories of impact
Mark Napier, Urban LandMark
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Keynote address 1: Mobilising land value to achieve better access to urban land
Carlos Morales-Schechinger, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
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Keynote address 2: Land, politics and the role of international development agencies
Geoffrey Payne, Geoffrey Payne & Associates, London
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Session 2: Investor impacts in African countries |
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New encounters / sharing knowledge: the impact of China's Investments in cities in Africa
Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola and Liu Haifang, Centre for African Studies - Peking University
Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola
Maribel Gonzales, Development Workshop Angola
Caroline Wanjiku Kihato, Urban LandMark
Kecia Rust, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa
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Session 3: Achieving impact through land law reform |
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Impact of planning law reform in Africa: policy and practice change?
Stephen Berrisford, Urban LandMark
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Guide to urban legal reform in sub-Saharan Africa: rationale and envisaged outcomes
Patrick McAuslan, Birkbeck College, University of London
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Where has the Land Governance Assessment Framework SA taken us?
Wendy Ovens & Felicity Kitchin, independent consultants
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Thursday 14 March 2013 |
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Session 4: Lessons on urban land markets from the last seven years
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Panel discussion on Urban LandMark: the Book
Mark Napier, Urban LandMark
Lauren Royston, Urban LandMark
Stephen Berrisford, Urban LandMark
Caroline Wanjiku Kihato, Urban LandMark
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Session 5: Security of tenure and property rights
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Session introduction by Chair
Lauren Royston, Urban LandMark
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Operation of the Market study in Lilongwe, Malawi
Reathe Taljaard, Progressus Research & Development
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People's experience of urban development on the ground
Patrick Chikoti, Centre for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE), Malawi
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The Cities Alliance Mozambique Country Programme
Adele Hosken, Cities Alliance
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Comparing results, and implications for slum upgrading
Lauren Royston, Urban LandMark
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Session 6: Engaging for impact at municipal scale |
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Session introduction by Chair
Stephen Berrisford, Urban LandMark
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Township economies and related non-residential property markets
Katie Gull, PDG
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A deeper engagement on managing urban land
Tristan Görgens, Isandla Institute
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Respondents: ...on having municipal level impact
Peter Ahmad, City of Johannesburg, Development Planning and Facilitation unit
Soobs Moonsammy, EThekwini Municipality, Development Planning, Environment and Management
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