Lecture

Land Ownership: Traditional vs. Colonial

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Description

This lecture discusses the evolution of land ownership in Africa, from traditional communal ownership to colonial centralized administration, and the current diverse forms of land occupation. It explores the challenges of securing land rights, the impact of urban sprawl, the difficulties in urban planning, and the need for anticipatory measures in managing land resources. The lecture also touches upon the issues of informal settlements, land speculation, and the financial aspects of land economics.

In MOOC

African cities I, An introduction to urban planning

The course focuses solely on African cities, and while these can serve as examples for cities in the South, or indeed all cities, we do our utmost to put the issues back into an African context.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Anthropology

Urbanism: Topics in urbanism

Related concepts (26)

Land tenure

In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individuals. It determines who can use land, for how long and under what conditions. Tenure may be based both on official laws and policies, and on informal local customs (insofar higher law does allow that).

Urban sprawl

Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development.

Land reform

Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful, such as from a relatively small number of wealthy or noble owners with extensive land holdings (e.g., plantations, large ranches, or agribusiness plots) to individual ownership by those who work the land.

Urban planning

Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks and their accessibility.

Urban planning education

Urban planning education is a practice of teaching and learning urban theory, studies, and professional practices. The interaction between public officials, professional planners and the public involves a continuous education on planning process. Community members often serve on a city planning commission, council or board. As a result, education outreach is effectively an ongoing cycle.

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