Exploring land policy tools and instruments for formalising informal settlements in Nigeria

IF 7 1区 经济学 Q1 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Emmanuel Joseph Odoyi , Kirsikka Riekkinen
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Abstract

Informal settlements are the most common type of urbanisation in underdeveloped nations, with unstable tenure, inadequate infrastructure, and socio-spatial marginalisation. Despite multiple efforts to formalise these settlements, obstacles remain due to fragmented governance structures, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and a misalignment between statutory land policy tools and the realities of informal land tenure. This paper examines the influence of land policy tools and formalisation instruments used to integrate informal settlements into the formal urban fabric, with a particular emphasis on Nigeria. Using a qualitative research approach, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 34 relevant stakeholders, including government officials, legal experts, community leaders, and urban planners. A thematic analysis was used to discover key themes and ideas. The findings suggest that previous land laws, particularly the Land Use Act of 1978, centralised land governance, making it difficult for low-income people to get formal titles. Formalisation mechanisms including Certificates of Occupancy, slum rehabilitation programs, and urban redevelopment initiatives have had minimal impact due to administrative delays and a lack of grassroots participation. The study also identifies key future strategies for improving formalisation outcomes, such as incorporating customary land practices into statutory systems, simplifying land titling procedures, leveraging technologies like Geographic Information System (GIS) and mobile data collection, and encouraging community-driven approaches. Finally, the study emphasises the importance of shifting away from rigid, top-down frameworks and towards inclusive, participative, and technologically enabled models that reflect local realities and promote long-term urban development.
探索使尼日利亚非正规住区正规化的土地政策工具和工具
非正式住区是欠发达国家最常见的城市化类型,其租住权不稳定,基础设施不足,社会空间边缘化。尽管多方努力使这些定居点正规化,但由于治理结构分散、官僚效率低下以及法定土地政策工具与非正式土地权属现实之间的不一致,障碍仍然存在。本文考察了用于将非正式住区纳入正式城市结构的土地政策工具和正规化工具的影响,并特别强调了尼日利亚。采用定性研究方法,通过对34名相关利益相关者(包括政府官员、法律专家、社区领袖和城市规划者)的半结构化访谈收集数据。主题分析是用来发现关键主题和思想的。研究结果表明,以前的土地法,特别是1978年的《土地使用法》,集中了土地管理,使得低收入者很难获得正式的土地所有权。由于行政延误和缺乏基层参与,包括入住证、贫民窟改造计划和城市重建计划在内的正规化机制的影响微乎其微。该研究还确定了改善正规化成果的关键未来战略,例如将土地习惯做法纳入法定制度、简化土地所有权程序、利用地理信息系统(GIS)和移动数据收集等技术,以及鼓励社区驱动的方法。最后,该研究强调了从僵化的、自上而下的框架转向包容的、参与式的、技术支持的模式的重要性,这种模式反映了当地的实际情况,促进了城市的长期发展。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
10.50
自引率
10.30%
发文量
151
审稿时长
38 days
期刊介绍: Habitat International is dedicated to the study of urban and rural human settlements: their planning, design, production and management. Its main focus is on urbanisation in its broadest sense in the developing world. However, increasingly the interrelationships and linkages between cities and towns in the developing and developed worlds are becoming apparent and solutions to the problems that result are urgently required. The economic, social, technological and political systems of the world are intertwined and changes in one region almost always affect other regions.
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