Problems and New Trends of Land Ownership and Tenure

Across theWorld

An Analysis from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

Jim Riddell

Private Property: Magic answer?

• “Dead Capital”• All OECD “rich”

countries have it.• Associated with ideas

of “freedom”, etc.– One corner of the

world– Social history and rise

of cities

• Applicable everywhere?

Source:bkmarcor.com 2000

The same or different paths?

• Same goal, which route – Knowing who has the rights

to how much, for how long and for which purposes

– Environment: Range as common property resource, fishing, wood lots, irrigation As pooled resources

– Current economic situation• What new uses of rural

space is available

• Sequencing

Source: Travel China.com

Source: china.org.cn

Whose problem are we solving?

• Identifying constraints

• What do those with the problem propose?

• Targeting our technical knowledge

• One size seldom fits all

Land market or investment

• Do we really want an active rural land market?

• Stable, productive rural sector

• Does new investment strengthen security or weaken it?

Why do we create land rights?

• Three main reasons1. Transactions: new crops, new uses

2. Transactions: new technology

3. Transactions: Rural living improvement

• Who uses the data on your rights?• Banks• Insurance• Planners/local government

Security of tenure

• Who defines rights?

• More than passing a law– Institutional framework– Capacity

• Who does the protecting?– Institutional responsibility– Capacity

Rights for what purpose?

• How do we want the land used?– Land consolidation

– Village re-organization• Does everybody want to do

the same thing?• Gender• Housing v. production land

• Investment potential– Farmer led

– Expert led

– Market led

Source: FAO

Land Tenure Transactions

• What is “owned”– What rights do you have?

• Partial interests: The dimensions– Area: easement, prescriptive and proscriptive uses,

pooled resources– Time: sell, lease, use, seasonal, temporary

» Thirty years or how long? (market in remainders)– Share: condominium, corporate, common, pooled– Depth/height: trees, orchards, vines, solar, wind, wells,

minerals, storage, utilities,

• Sticks in a bundle

Partial Interests in Land:The “Bundle of Rights”

• Development rights• Soil right• Air rights• Water rights• Mineral rights• Tree right• Fructus rights• Usus rights• Animals

• Residual• Seasonal• Easements:

– Conservation– Right of way

• Recreation• Wind/Solar• Residual rights • Yet to be discovered

Source: property Appraisal News

Partial interests normally reserved by society

• Taxation• Police Power• Emergency uses (flood,

fire, etc)• Eminent Domain

– Prescriptive & Proscriptive uses

• Setbacks, sidewalks, fire lanes

• Zoning, etc. • Building permits, etc.

– TDR – PDR

• Coasts and waterways

Rights: how do we use them

• Must be used to be of value

• “If you sit on your rights you are likely to lose them.”

• Examples from the Philippines and Romania

Land Policy

• Land policy deals with the rights that we put into each person’s bundle

• What uses do we want to – encourage/discourage

• Market• Planning• Environmental• Social/cultural

Source: Jornal o Expresso

Land Policy is Expensive: high administrative costs

• Increasing number of players• Increasing demand for government action• Use constraints• Increase in the number of sticks in the

bundle• Asymmetrical power, information, etc• Centralized / decentralized

Keeping them on the farm

• Many countries have tried– Vote with feet– Egypt: guaranteed income

for degree holding farm families

– Malaysia: larger industrial farms

• “Red Line” of 1.8b mu– Food security– Household registration

system

• Distortion of land values– Consignment to poverty?

Egypt: land reclamation village

FEDERAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FELDA): Malaysia

Preserving Agricultural land

• Holland, Sweden, etc.– Mandated planning– Strict land use controls– Compulsory purchase

agricultural value

• Problems with zoning– Prone to abuse in

variances, bribery, etc.– Easy to change– Expensive to enforce

Village renewal in Germany. Juhnde

Land Conservation

Source: APW.org

Source: IFAD

Land Reclamation: Creating new rights

Source: holland.com

Brownfield Redevelopment

Source: Iowa DNR

Rethinking a Rural FutureWho wants to be a farmer?

1. Access to Information and research

2. Public environment that encourages entrepreneurial activities

3. Existence of a critical mass of SMEs

4. Networks for the exchange of experience and know-how

5. Infrastructure and geographical isolation, real or perceived.

Sequence

• LIS (what is where, where is what)

• Systematic adjudication/Survey

• Land Use Plan (local)• Land use

framework/zoning• Land consolidation

and reorganization

• Infrastructure• Cadastre (physical

description)• Registration (description

of rights)• Land

reclamation/conservation• New planning and

investment• New kinds of rights?