Fit-for-purpose land administration

Land administration systems in the Arab region evolved over the centuries, incorporating a range of customary practices and homegrown and imported legal traditions. This web of normative and administrative tools generated complex land tenure situations and bureaucratic registration procedures, which resulted in the limited coverage of the formal land registration systems and widespread informality. 

A quarter of the fast-expanding urban population lives in informal areas. This derives from the insufficient amount of land made available in the formal market and from the inefficient management of urban land, as vacant plot and empty housing unit are a common problem in the region. 

Institutional fragmentation, poor land information infrastructure, and limited use of new technologies add to these challenges and further inhibit the implementation of land governance policies. Inefficient land use practices, underdeveloped land valuation and land-based financing mechanisms, lack of transparency, and elite capture are widespread features.

While significant advances and good reforms are being introduced in some – particularly high income and small – countries, the land administration systems have not been significantly reformed. To promote the reform of the land administration systems, the Arab Land Initiative’s partners promote fit-for-purpose land administration approaches.

The Fit-For-Purpose land administration approach was developed by the International Federation of Surveyors and the World Bank and it is embraced and implemented at country level by Global Land Tool Network’s partners. It provides inclusive solutions for meeting the land administration needs of all segments of the society. A land administration system is considered “fit-for-purpose” when it applies the spatial, legal and institutional frameworks that are most fit for the purpose of securing land tenure for all and ensuring the functioning of the key land administration functions, including land valuation and taxation and land use. The fit-for-purpose approach allows governments to establish land administration systems, at an affordable cost within a reasonably timeframe, which can be incrementally upgraded over time. This approach builds on three key principles: purpose orientation, flexibility, and incremental improvement [1]. 

The approach

To support the reform of land administration systems in a fit-for-purpose manner, Arab Land Initiative’s partners:

• Develop the capacities of land sector stakeholders 
• Facilitate research, knowledge exchanges and debates 
• Document and disseminate good practices
• Promote and implement conflict-sensitive fit-for-purpose land administration in fragile and crises-affected contexts
• Conduct detailed land administration assessments, providing country-specific recommendations

Reference