Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration and the Framework for Effective Land Administration: Synthesis of Contemporary Experiences

Abstract

Despite the significant and explicit focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), much of the world's land rights remain unrecorded and outside formal government systems. Blame is often placed on land administration processes that are considered slow, expensive, and expertise-dependent. Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA) has been suggested as an alternative, time and cost-effective approach. Likewise, the UN endorsed Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA) demands attention to worldwide tenure insecurity by directly linking it to responsible land administration. Implementation of FFPLA and FELA is country-context dependent, and there are now many lessons of execution from various jurisdictions. Undertaken in 2022, this study synthesizes a review of experiences to provide a further update on the best global FFPLA implementation practices and inform approaches for future FFPLA projects. A systematic review is adopted as the research methodology, and contemporary articles from the internationally recognized land administration discourse are examined. The studies focus on FFPLA implementation practices and innovative approaches for delivering land tenure security. A checklist is developed, based on the FELA strategic pathways and the FFPLA fundamental framework principles and characteristic elements, to identify best implementation practices. Success stories across the globe show that the FFPLA characteristic elements and the FELA pathway goals are achieved through effective execution of the FFPLA framework key principles. As a result, the study identified successful FFPLA implementation practices in Asia and Africa, which can be synthesized and extended to realize tenure security in rapidly urbanizing areas. However, further study is necessary to determine the efficacy, practicability, innovativeness, and transferability of the best practices to other land administration scenarios.

Assessing the Status and Challenges of Urban Land Administration Systems Using Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA): A Case Study in Pakistan

“…The purpose was to assess the status and challenges of urban LASs in the country, aligning with the recommendations provided in the FELA pathways. The content of each questionnaire was carefully crafted to provide valuable insights to the existing urban LASs, following guidelines provided by UN-GGIM and Mataferia et al [10,64]. The LAS organizations categorized as "Others" consist of vertically developed multistorey buildings being used as separate residential and/or commercial units in urban areas.…”

“…Developing countries are struggling with their LASs to meet the socio-technical challenges of rapid urbanization [17]. Bennett et al [18] recommended conducting country-specific assessments utilizing the FELA to tackle the challenges of LASs, and one such study was conducted by Unger et al [19] in Europe and Unger et al [20] in Chad. Pakistan, along with other South Asian countries like Bangladesh and India, faces challenges in establishing a clear, comprehensive, secure, and effective LAS [21][22][23].…”

The SmartLandMaps Approach for Participatory Land Rights Mapping

“…In Benin, the data collection took place in an urban setting with private ownership (Seme-Podji) and in a rural setting with individual and group ownership (Zè) [13]. In Chad, SmartLandMaps was tested alongside other forms of cadastral surveying and mapping in a peri-urban environment near the capital N'Djamena, characterized by private property rights [55]. The context in rural Sierra Leone was very different, with predominantly agroforestry land use and a customary tenure system, i.e., family lands averaging several hundred hectares.…”