Abstract

Key Observations from Research into Accessing, Holding and Trading of Land in the SA Urban Areas and GIS Opportunities


Lauren Royston
Urban Land Mark Programme South Africa



Between November 2006 and May 2007, Urban LandMark conducted a research project to investigate how the poor access, hold and trade land in different types of settlements in three metropolitan areas in South Africa: Cape Town, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini. This presentation provides a summary of the key findings, offers some observations, identifies what commonly held assumptions now need to be questioned and concludes with policy implications. It also shares the next phase of the project, highlighting the issues which may have particular importance for the MapAfrica conference participants. The results of the study confirmed that land markets are operating in these settlements. These markets are seldom recognised mainly because social relations are dominant. The study also found that both state policy and financial markets are shaping these areas, and that informal settlements are an important part of the urban land market. The full study is available on the Urban LandMark website, www.urbanlandmark.org.za.