Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri-urban Areas of Secondary Towns of Rwanda: Case Study of Tumba Sector, Butare Town

Abstract

Since mid-1970s, a great number of rural-urban migrants are converging towards Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and secondary towns, putting strain on land, especially of urban fringes. This is the case of Tumba Sector, a suburb of Butare Town, which attracts many people searching land for various uses. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the land market process in Tumba Sector. Data used in this paper were collected through desk study, survey and from non-structured interview held with the Tumba Land Bureau Officer. Findings revealed landowned was acquired through informal purchase and land sellers were mainly native people who acquired land through inheritance. Size of land to be sold is frequently fixed unilaterally by the seller. Land demarcation is done with indigenous plants. Land price is negotiable and varies greatly based on the land size and its specific location and is higher than the reference land price. Land right transfer is evidenced by a simple "sale contract". All informal land purchases are not reported to the Land Bureau though the process is very easy, clear and cheap. Land buyers are primarily local tradespeople, and secondarily civil servants. Great involvement of tradespeople in land purchase and high price suggest that there is land speculation in the area. Though informal land market benefits to the land seller and the buyer, it can be detrimental the client. Informal land market develops as a response to the failure of formal land provision which leads people not to apply to Huye District/Tumba Sector for land provision. Therefore it is important for the District and the Sector be empowered to be land provider and enforce rules and the law governing land, especially in peri-urban areas.

Limited access to services for the urban poor in Windhoek, Namibia

“…The urban poor have financial and other resource constraints that drive them to the informal land market (Brown-Luthango, 2010;Oladokun et al, 2010, Twarabamenye andNyandwi, 2012;Duran-Lasserve, undated). This informal (grey) market works through 'a simple sale contract' between buyer and seller, without formal registration with the authorities.…”

“…Since the informal structures themselves are deemed illegal, this could lead to possibly fraudulent sale contracts. Therefore, it is necessary for African governments to enable land markets to become more transparent and efficient (Kironde, 2000;Oladokun et al, 2010;Twarabamenye and Nyandwi, 2012), for mutual benefits. Advocates suggest that the informal land market be institutionalised to a level which improves access to "legal" land in peri-urban areas (Twarabamenye and Nyandwi, 2012;Durand-Lasserve, undated).…”

“…Therefore, it is necessary for African governments to enable land markets to become more transparent and efficient (Kironde, 2000;Oladokun et al, 2010;Twarabamenye and Nyandwi, 2012), for mutual benefits. Advocates suggest that the informal land market be institutionalised to a level which improves access to "legal" land in peri-urban areas (Twarabamenye and Nyandwi, 2012;Durand-Lasserve, undated). A similar approach is advocated by Kombe (2000), who suggests governments recognize the 'flourishing' informal land and housing market and identify the opportunities to improve such markets.…”

The effects of land price in the peri-urban fringe of Mexico City: Environmental amenities for informal land parcel purchasers

“…The formal market is based on national or local laws and government regulations on either land rights or specific zoning. Otherwise, people can obtain land through informal instruments such as informal purchase, illegal occupation, inheritance, donation, among others (Twarabamenye and Nyandwi, 2012). In the case of informal land sales, their crosselasticity of demand is low since no substitutes exist.…”

Discriminatory land use planning and flood risk management in Karonga Town, Malawi

“…The proactive model of flood risk reduction designed by the Karonga Town Council does not perceive rural and urban spaces as a web of environmental and socioeconomic interaction but as fixed and binary spaces. There is vast literature that indicates that rural and urban spaces are increasingly becoming linked (Steinberg 2014). Environmental and socio-economic flows take place between rural and urban spaces.Thus the urban spatial bias in Karonga Town has exposed recent migrants who occupied informal settlements sto be vulnerable to flood risks.Recent rural-urban migrants easily occupy informal settlements because these are the places that meet their financial capacity (Kita, 2017).…”