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Lance: The Making of the World's Greatest Champion
by John WilcocksonFew people know exactly how lance Armstrong became such an amazing force in cycling. Now, in Lance, John Wilcockson draws on dozens of interviews with those who know Armstrong best, to trace his remarkable life, both on and off the bike.<P><P> Family members—including his adoptive father, speaking publicly for the first time—recall Armstrong’s humble origins, the father he barely knew, and his single mom’s struggle for survival. His childhood friends and early mentors recall how he also excelled at other sports, including swimming, running, and triathlons.<P> Known for pushing his body to the extreme and intimidating his rivals, Armstrong accomplished extraordinary feats like winning the world’s professional roadrace championship at twenty-one and taking home the Tour de France trophy seven consecutive years in a row. But his many achievements have consistently been dogged by allegations of doping and secrecy.<P> In Lance, Wilcockson provides numerous details, many for the first time, of how Armstrong’s legendary training, near-fatal bout with cancer, and battles with the media drove him to reach the pinnacle of his sport.
Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World
by Martin AdamsWhat if we lived in a world where everyone had enough? A world where everyone mattered and where people lived in harmony with nature? What if the solution to our economic, social, and ecological problems was right underneath our feet? Land has been sought after throughout human history. Even today, people struggle to get onto the property ladder and view real estate as an important way to build wealth. Yet, as the reader will discover through this book, the act of owning land—and our urge to profit from it—causes economic booms and busts, social and cultural decline, and environmental devastation. Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World introduces a radically new economic model that ensures a more fair and abundant reality for everyone. It is a book for those who dream of a better world, for themselves and future generations.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: The Cost of Ignorance1. The Production of Wealth 2. The Value of Location3. The Free Market4. Social Decline5. Business Recessions6. Ecocide7. Earth, Our HomePart II: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World8. Restoring Communities9. Keep What You Earn, Pay for What You Use10. Local Autonomy11. Affordable Housing12. Thriving Cities13. Sustainable Farming14. The Price of Peace15. A New ParadigmEpilogue: A Personal NoteAppendix: The Math Behind the ScienceReferences & Suggestions for Further ReadingEndnotesIndex
Land!: The Case for an Agrarian Economy
by John Crowe RansomFrom a National Book Award winner, &“an indictment of a system that values accumulation, shareholder profit . . . over . . . self-sufficiency, and solidarity.&” (Robert Neuwirth, author of Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy) John Crowe Ransom's Land! is a previously unpublished work that unites the accomplished literary scholar&’s poetic sensibilities with an examination of economics at the height of the Great Depression. Politically charged with Ransom's aesthetic beliefs about literature and his agrarian interpretation of economics, Land! was long thought to have been burned by its author after he failed to find a publisher. Thankfully, the manuscript was discovered, and we are now able to read this unique and interesting contribution to the Southern Agrarian revival. After the publication of the Agrarian movement manifesto I&’ll Take My Stand in 1930, Ransom, a contributor, became convinced that the book had not adequately proposed an economic alternative to Northern industrialism, which had fairly obliterated the Southern way of life. Land! was Ransom's attempt to fill this gap. In it he presents the weaknesses inherent in capitalism and proposes instead that agrarianism, which could flourish alongside capitalism, would relieve the problems of unemployment. America, Ransom claims, is unique in offering this opportunity because, unlike in European countries, land is plentiful. &“Ransom joins Lauck in championing the values fostered by rural and small-town America. Is this just wishful thinking? Perhaps, and yet don&’t we sometimes need to step back before we can leap forward?&” —The Washington Post &“Ransom&’s affection for traditional rural culture provides an enjoyable warm streak in the book.&” —Choice &“Mr. Ransom&’s highly original argument unfolds in beautifully written prose. . . . engaging and thought-provoking.&” —George Core, retired editor of The Sewanee Review
Land Access and Resettlement: A Guide to Best Practice
by Gerry Reddy Eddie Smyth Michael SteynThis book is an up-to-date, accessible and practical guide on how to optimally plan for, implement and review land access and resettlement. It provides step-by-step information on how to avoid pitfalls, ensure that best practice is being employed and the correct standards are being applied. With useful real-life examples of when projects have gone well and when they haven't, the book is based on the main lessons that have been learned on-the-ground over the past decade. Natural resource projects can have considerable impacts on local communities, chiefly due to the need to acquire large areas of land. When projects are located in developing and middle income economies, the impacts are most keenly felt, as it often requires displacement of large rural populations, with predominately land-based livelihoods. The authors have planned, implemented and reviewed over 50 land access and resettlement projects in over 30 countries internationally, and conducted benchmarking exercises on a further 60 projects. This experience provides the basis for the book. The book guides the reader through the different stages of preparing for a land resettlement project. Land Access and Resettlement is a key social risk for the natural resources sector, particularly the mining, oil and gas industries, who are operating in a context of increased awareness and regulation regarding the potential social impacts of their activities. At the same time, companies increasingly appreciate the business case for ‘getting social right’. This book provides a practical road map to corporate leaders, project managers, practitioners, academia, government and civil society for practically planning and implementing successful land access and resettlement, and creating win-win outcomes for companies and communities.
Land Acquisition in India: Public Purpose and Private Property (C)
by Laura Alfaro Rachna Tahilyani Lakshmi IyerSupplement
Land Alienation and Politics of Tribal Exploitation in India: Special Focus on Tribal Movement in Koraput District of Odisha
by Suratha Kumar MalikThis book explores tribal land alienation problems in India and tribal agitation against land encroachment and alienation. It discusses India’s tribal land problem and explains how despite legislation to protect tribal lands, the problem has not been resolved since neither the letter nor the spirit of the law has been implemented. Due to continuous land encroachment and alienation by outsiders, the negligence of the revenue administration and the apathy of the central and state government, the situation concerning tribal land in the country have became precarious. In this context, the book highlights the process of land estrangement among the tribes and the related movements, focusing on the Narayanpatna land movement in the Koraput district of Odisha. It argues that land remains a central issue that is extremely important for tribes as it directly affects their life, livelihood, freedom and development, and that the cultural attachment of tribes and their views regarding the idea of ‘place’ (land) furnishes crucial perspectives in understanding the politics of collective resistance. It also discusses the politicization of group identity and material interest against the outside authority as the basis of the unrest among the tribes, and when the grudges of the people are hardened due to insensitivity and tyranny, the extent of tribal resistance escalates, leading to conflict between the state and its own people. Given its scope, this book is a valuable resource for students and research scholars, as well as for policymakers and anyone interested in Indian democracy and development in general, and tribal problems, issues and politics in particular.
Land and Credit: Mortgages In The Medieval And Early Modern European Countryside (Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance)
by Chris Briggs Jaco ZuijderduijnThis volume investigates the use of mortgages in the European countryside between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. A mortgage allowed a loan to be secured with land or other property, and the practice has been linked to the transformation of the agrarian economy that paved the way for modern economic growth. Historians have viewed the mortgage both positively and negatively: on the one hand, it provided borrowers with opportunities for investment in agriculture; but equally, it exposed them to the risk of losing their mortgaged property. The case studies presented in this volume reveal the variety of forms that the mortgage took, and show how an intricate balance was struck between the interests of the borrower looking for funds, and those of the lender looking for security. It is argued that the character of mortgage law, and the nature of rights in land in operation in any given the place and period, determined the degree to which mortgages were employed. Over time, developments in these factors allowed increasing numbers of peasants to use mortgages more freely, and with a decreasing risk of expropriation. This volume will be appealing to academics and researchers interested in financial history, rural credit and debt, and the economic history of agrarian communities.
Land and Disaster Management Strategies in Asia
by Huong HaThis book focuses on land and disaster governance in Asian countries. The Asian region has become increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, including floods, cyclones, storms, earthquakes, drought, typhoons and tsunamis. Further, as a result of unsustainable changes being made in patterns of land use, catchment and coastal zones, increasing population density, migration patterns, and the spread of consumer culture across countries, the impact of natural disasters has increased manifold. The book addresses two major concerns in this field. Firstly, it discusses topics intended to raise awareness among all stakeholders of the critical aspects of disaster management in the context of Asia. Secondly, it calls upon policymakers, researchers, academics, practitioners, private enterprises and civil society organizations, as well as all those who have been, are and will be affected by natural disasters to search for innovative and novel approaches to reducing risk and managing disasters.
Land and Liberty: Henry George and the Crafting of Modern Liberalism (Hagley Library Studies in Business, Technology, and Politics)
by Christopher William EnglandA comprehensive history of Henry George and the single tax movement.In 1912, Sun Yat-sen announced the birth of the Chinese Republic and promised that it would be devoted to the economic welfare of all its people. In shaping his plans for wealth redistribution, he looked to an American now largely forgotten in the United States: Henry George. In Land and Liberty, Christopher William England excavates the lost history of one of America's most influential radicals and explains why so many activists were once inspired by his proposal to tax landed wealth. Drawing on the private papers of a network of devoted believers, Land and Liberty represents the first comprehensive account of this important movement to nationalize land and expropriate rent. Beginning with concerns about rising rents in the 1870s and ending with the establishment of New Deal policies that extended public control over land, natural resources, and housing, "Georgism" served as a catalyst for reforms intended to make the nation more democratic. Many of these concerns remain relevant today, including the exploitation of natural resources, rising urban rent, and wealth inequality. At a time when class divisions sparked fears that capitalism and democracy were incompatible, hopes of building a social welfare state using the rents of idle landlords revitalized the middle class's conviction that democracy and liberty could be reconciled. Against steep odds, George made land nationalization vital to the politics of a nation dominated by small farmers and helped push liberalism leftward through his calls for collective rights to land and natural resources.
Land and Livelihoods in Neoliberal India
by Deepak K. Mishra Pradeep NayakThe book discusses important developments emerging around the land questions in India in the context of India’s neoliberal economic development and its changing political economy. It covers many issues that have been impinging the political economy in land and livelihoods in India since the 1990s, examining the land question from diverse methodological standpoints. Most of the chapters rely on evidence generated through primary surveys in different parts of the country. The book, via its diversity of approaches and methodologies, brings out new and hitherto unexplored and/or less researched issues on the emerging land question in India. The range of issues addressed in the volume encompasses the contemporary developments in the political economy of land, land dispossession, SEZs, agrarian changes, urbanisation and the drive for the commodification of land across India. The authors also examine role of the state in promoting the capitalist transformation in India and continuities and changes emerging in the context of land liberalisation and market-friendly economic reforms.
Land and Loyalty: Security and the Development of Property Rights in Thailand (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)
by Tomas LarssonDomestic and international development strategies often focus on private ownership as a crucial anchor for long-term investment; the security of property rights provides a foundation for capitalist expansion. In recent years, Thailand's policies have been hailed as a prime example of how granting formal land rights to poor farmers in low-income countries can result in economic benefits. But the country provides a puzzle: Thailand faced major security threats from colonial powers in the nineteenth century and from communism in the twentieth century, yet only in the latter case did the government respond with pro-development tactics.In Land and Loyalty, Tomas Larsson argues that institutional underdevelopment may prove, under certain circumstances, a strategic advantage rather than a weakness and that external threats play an important role in shaping the development of property regimes. Security concerns, he find, often guide economic policy. The domestic legacies, legal and socioeconomic, resulting from state responses to the outside world shape and limit the strategies available to politicians. While Larsson's extensive archival research findings are drawn from Thai sources, he situates the experiences of Thailand in comparative perspective by contrasting them with the trajectory of property rights in Japan, Burma, and the Philippines.
Land and Resource Scarcity: Capitalism, Struggle and Well-being in a World without Fossil Fuels (Routledge Studies in Environmental Policy)
by Andreas Exner Peter Fleissner Lukas Kranzl Werner ZittelThis book brings together geological, biological, radical economic, technological, historical and social perspectives on peak oil and other scarce resources. The contributors to this volume argue that these scarcities will put an end to the capitalist system as we know it and alternatives must be created. The book combines natural science with emancipatory thinking, focusing on bottom up alternatives and social struggles to change the world by taking action. The volume introduces original contributions to the debates on peak oil, land grabbing and social alternatives, thus creating a synthesis to gain an overview of the multiple crises of our times. The book sets out to analyse how crises of energy, climate, metals, minerals and the soil relate to the global land grab which has accelerated greatly since 2008, as well as to examine the crisis of profit production and political legitimacy. Based on a theoretical understanding of the multiple crises and the effects of peak oil and other scarcities on capital accumulation, the contributors explore the social innovations that provide an alternative. Using the most up to date research on resource crises, this integrative and critical analysis brings together the issues with a radical perspective on possibilites for future change as well as a strong social economic and ethical dimesion. The book should be of interest to researchers and students of environmental policy, politics, sustainable development and natural resource management.
Land and the Mortgage: History, Culture, Belonging (The Human Economy #9)
by Daivi Rodima-Taylor and Parker ShiptonThe mortgaging of land is not just economic and legal but also social and cultural. Here, anthropologists, historians, and economists explore origins, variations, and meanings of the land mortgage, and the risks to homes and livelihoods. Combining findings from archives, printed records, and live ethnography, the book describes the changing and problematic assumptions surrounding mortgage. It shows how mortgages affect people on the ground, where local forms of mutuality mix with larger bureaucracies. The outcomes of mortgage in Africa, Europe, Asia, and America challenge economic development orthodoxies, calling for a human-centered exploration of this age-old institution.
Land-Atmospheric Research Applications in South and Southeast Asia (Springer Remote Sensing/photogrammetry Ser.)
by Krishna Prasad Vadrevu Toshimasa Ohara Chris JusticeThis edited volume sheds new light on the impact of rapid Land Use/Cover Changes (LU/CC) on greenhouse gases (GHG’s) and aerosol emissions in South and Southeast Asia. Several countries in South/Southeast Asia have the highest population growth rates in the world, which is the main cause for LU/CC. Conversion of dense forests to agricultural areas and then to residential and urban areas is most commonly observed in South/Southeast Asian countries with a significant release of GHG’s and aerosols. The book showcases several case studies on the use of remote sensing and geospatial technologies to quantify biomass burning and air pollution impacts, aerosol pollution, LU/CC, and impacts on ecosystem services. The book also includes articles on regional initiatives in research, capacity building, and training. The authors of this book are international experts in the field, and their contributions highlight significant drivers and impacts of air pollution in South/Southeast Asia. Readers will discover the latest tools and techniques, in particular, the use of satellite remote sensing and geospatial technologies for quantifying GHG’s, aerosols and pollution episodes in this region.
Land Bargains and Chinese Capitalism
by Meg E. RithmireLand reforms have been critical to the development of Chinese capitalism over the last several decades, yet land in China remains publicly owned. This book explores the political logic of reforms to land ownership and control, accounting for how land development and real estate have become synonymous with economic growth and prosperity in China. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and archival research, the book tracks land reforms and urban development at the national level and in three cities in a single Chinese region. The study reveals that the initial liberalization of land was reversed after China's first contemporary real estate bubble in the early 1990s and that property rights arrangements at the local level varied widely according to different local strategies for economic prosperity and political stability. In particular, the author links fiscal relations and economic bases to property rights regimes, finding that more 'open' cities are subject to greater state control over land.
Land-Cover and Land-Use Changes in Eastern Europe after the Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
by Garik Gutman Volker RadeloffThis fascinating work analyzes the effects of one of the most dramatic changes of entire societies that the world has ever witnessed. It explores the collapse of socialist governance and management systems on land cover and land use in various parts of Eastern Europe. As readers will discover, this involved rapid and unprecedented changes such as widespread agricultural abandonment. Changes in the countries of the former Soviet block, former Soviet Union republics, and European Russia are compared and contrasted. Contributing authors cover topics such as the carbon cycle and the environment, effects of institutional changes on urban centers and agriculture, as well as changes in wildlife populations. The volume includes analysis of the drivers of agricultural land abandonment, forest changes in Black Sea region, an extreme drought event of 2010, impacts of fires on air quality and other land-cover/land-use issues in Eastern Europe. Satellite data used were mostly from optical sensors including night lights observations, with both coarse and medium spatial resolution. Ultimately, this work highlights the importance of understanding socioeconomic shocks: that is, those brief periods during which societies change rapidly resulting in significant impact on land use and the environment. Thus it shows that change is often abrupt rather that gradual and thereby much harder to predict. This book is a truly international and interdisciplinary effort, written by a team of scientists from the USA, Europe, and Russia. It will be of interest to a broad range of scientists at all levels within natural and social sciences, including those studying recent and ongoing changes in Europe. In particular, it will appeal to geographers, environmental scientists, remote sensing specialists, social scientists and agricultural scientists.
Land Cover Change and Its Eco-environmental Responses in Nepal
by Wei Deng Wei Zhao Ainong LiThis book offers a systematic investigation of the ecological and environmental issues related to the land cover changes in Nepal by researchers from both China and Nepal. It discusses the eco-environmental issues faced by Nepal, particularly in the hills and mountain regions. It also sheds light on the global concerns regarding the eco-environment issues of mountains, and analyzes the various causes and potential consequences of eco-environmental degradation in Nepal. The book is of particular interest to students, researchers, experts, and decision-makers wanting to gain a general overview of land cover in Nepal and its dynamics, environment and natural resources, as well as mountain hazards.
Land Delivery Systems in West African Cities
by Alain Durand-Lasserve Harris Selod Maã¿lis Durand-LasserveUrban and peri-urban land markets in rapidly expanding West African cities operate within and across different coexisting tenure regimes and involve complex procedures to obtain or make land available for housing. Because a structured framework lacks for the analysis of such systems, this book proposes a systemic approach and applies it to Bamako and its surrounding areas. The framework revolves around the description of land delivery channels: starting from the status of tenure when the land is first placed in circulation for residential use, it identifies the processes whereby tenure can be improved, the types of transactions that take place along the way, and interactions between land delivery channels. The analysis of the system shows that land is initially provided through a customary land delivery channel--which predominates in peri-urban areas where land is being transformed from agricultural to residential use--and through a public and para-public channel, which involves the administrative allocation of residential plots to inhabitants and the transfer of land to developers. These two channels feed into the formal private channel which delivers serviced plots with ownership title at much higher prices. Plots in the various channels may be traded successively, with a degree of informality varying according to tenure, legality and registration of transactions. Whereas the development of the formal market is hindered by structural factors, the informal land market provides little tenure security. Targeted towards low and middle-incomes, it also attracts wealthy and well-connected buyers who have access to information and administrative and political power and can more easily formalize tenure. The sustained increase in land prices, numerous conflicts over land, high transaction costs and time-consuming formalization procedures, together with the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, combine to reduce affordability significantly and make access to secure land very difficult for the urban poor.
Land Economics and Policy in Developing Countries
by Prasanna K MohantyLand economics is grossly neglected in developing countries, including India. The disconnect between land use planning through master plans and land economics is glaring. Master planning has led to an acute scarcity of serviced land and floor space for economic growth and affordable housing. It has resulted in sprawl, housing–employment mismatch, environmental degradation, social exclusion, rent-seeking and deadweight welfare losses. Land Economics and Policy in Developing Countries delves into theory and practice of land economics to draw lessons for land policy and management. It presents concepts and perspectives of land, functioning of land markets, determinants of location and land use, fallacies of comprehensive land use planning, sustainable land management design, land-based financing of infrastructure and land policy reforms in developing countries. This book evaluates land policy and national urban strategy frameworks, and suggests directions for broader reforms in urban planning, financing and governance.
Land Economics Research: Papers Presented At A Symposium Held At Lincoln, Nebraska, June 16-23, 1961 (Routledge Revivals)
by Joseph Ackerman Marion Clawson Marshall HarrisOriginally published in 1962, Land Economics Research brings together papers presented at a symposium in Nebraska in 1961 which deal with ideas, theories and suggestions in land economics to encourage problem-solving in American land issues. This report draws on all types of land, all situations and all economics problems related to land issues. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies and Economics as well as professionals.
Land Filled with Flies: A Political Economy of the Kalahari
by Edwin N. Wilmsen"The image of a pristine isolation has been almost as common in research on foragers as in the popular media. Land filled with Flies is a sustanined argument against such views. Wilmsen marshals an enormous quantity of historical, archival, archeological, ethnographic, and survey data on the Kalahari Zhu to show how far from the reality these images are, how they have their own historical provenance, how they have been analytically distorting, and how they have proven politically pernicious for living groups like the Zhu."—Pauline Peters, Science "[A] major work. . . . Anthropologists will, and should, use Wilmsen's meticulously detailed study to revise their early lectures in the introductory course, and no future study of African 'foragers' should ignore it."—Parker Shipton, American Anthropologist "An impressive book. . . . The reader need only read the first few pages to judge both the quality and ambitiousness of the work. . . . Essential reading."—David R. Penna, Africa Today
The Land Grabbers
by Fred PearceAn unprecedented land grab is taking place around the world. Fearing future food shortages or eager to profit from them, the world’s wealthiest and most acquisitive countries, corporations, and individuals have been buying and leasing vast tracts of land around the world. The scale is astounding: parcels the size of small countries are being gobbled up across the plains of Africa, the paddy fields of Southeast Asia, the jungles of South America, and the prairies of Eastern Europe. Veteran science writer Fred Pearce spent a year circling the globe to find out who was doing the buying, whose land was being taken over, and what the effect of these massive land deals seems to be. The Land Grabbersis a first-of-its-kind exposé that reveals the scale and the human costs of the land grab, one of the most profound ethical, environmental, and economic issues facing the globalized world in the twenty-first century. The corporations, speculators, and governments scooping up land cheap in the developing world claim that industrial-scale farming will help local economies. But Pearce’s research reveals a far more troubling reality. While some mega-farms are ethically run, all too often poor farmers and cattle herders are evicted from ancestral lands or cut off from water sources. The good jobs promised by foreign capitalists and home governments alike fail to materialize. Hungry nations are being forced to export their food to the wealthy, and corporate potentates run fiefdoms oblivious to the country beyond their fences. Pearce’s story is populated with larger-than-life characters, from financier George Soros and industry tycoon Richard Branson, to Gulf state sheikhs, Russian oligarchs, British barons, and Burmese generals. We discover why Goldman Sachs is buying up the Chinese poultry industry, what Lord Rothschild and a legendary 1970s asset-stripper are doing in the backwoods of Brazil, and what plans a Saudi oil billionaire has for Ethiopia. Along the way, Pearce introduces us to the people who actually live on, and live off of, the supposedly “empty” land that is being grabbed, from Cambodian peasants, victimized first by the Khmer Rouge and now by crony capitalism, to African pastoralists confined to ever-smaller tracts. Over the next few decades, land grabbing may matter more, to more of the planet’s people, than even climate change. It will affect who eats and who does not, who gets richer and who gets poorer, and whether agrarian societies can exist outside corporate control. It is the new battle over who owns the planet.
Land in Transition
by Dominique van de Walle Martin RavallionThis book is a case study of Vietnam's efforts to fight poverty using market-oriented land reforms. In the 1980s and 1990s, the country undertook major institutional reforms, and an impressive reduction in poverty followed. But what role did the reforms play? Did the efficiency gains from reform come at a cost to equity? Were there both winners and losers? Was rising rural landlessness in the wake of reforms a sign of success or failure? 'Land in Transition' investigates the impacts on living standards of the two stages of land law reform: in 1988, when land was allocated to households administratively and output markets were liberalized; and in 1993, when official land titles were introduced and land transactions were permitted for the first time since communist rule began. To fully assess the poverty impacts of these changes, the authors' analysis of household surveys is guided by both economic theory and knowledge of the historical and social contexts. The book delineates lessons from Vietnam's experience and their implications for current policy debates in China and elsewhere.
Land Issues for Urban Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa (Local and Urban Governance)
by Robert HomeSub-Saharan Africa faces many development challenges, such as its size and diversity, rapid urban population growth, history of colonial exploitation, fragile states and conflicts over land and natural resources. This collection, contributed from different academic disciplines and professions, seeks to support the UN Habitat New Urban Agenda passed at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. It will attract readers from urban specialisms in law, geography and other social sciences, and from professionals and policy-makers concerned with land use planning, surveying and governance.Among the topics addressed by the book are challenges to governance institutions: how international development is delivered, building land management capacity, funding for urban infrastructure, land-based finance, ineffective planning regulation, and the role of alternatives to courts in resolving boundary and other land disputes. Issues of rights and land titling are explored from perspectives of human rights law (the right to development, and women's rights of access to land), and land tenure regularization. Particular challenges of housing, planning and informality are addressed through contributions on international real estate investment, community participation in urban settlement upgrading, housing delivery as a partly failing project to remedy apartheid's legacy, and complex interactions between political power, money and land. Infrastructure challenges are approached in studies of food security and food systems, urban resilience against natural and man-made disasters, and informal public transport.
Land Matters: Can Better Governance and Management of Scarcity Prevent a Looming Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa?
by Anna Corsi Harris SelodAcross the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), land is scarce and valuable. Demand for land is projected to dramatically increase to meet the needs of a fast-growing urban population. At the same time, the supply of land is restricted by weak governance and climate factors, causing the quasi-exhaustion of cultivable land reserves. As a result, a crisis is looming. Yet, land continues to be used inefficiently, inequitably, and unsustainably. Land Matters identifies and analyzes the economic, environmental, and social challenges associated with land in the MENA region, shedding light on policy options and proposing paths to reform. It concludes that MENA countries need to act promptly, think more holistically about land, reassess the strategic trade-offs, and minimize land distortions. This report promotes a culture of open data, transparency, and inclusive dialogue on land, while filling major data gaps. These important steps will contribute to renewing the social contract, transforming the region economically and digitally, improving women’s land rights, and facilitating recovery and reconstruction in a context of dramatic social, political, and climatic transformation.