affordable land and housing in asia - International Union of Tenants

HOUSING IS ACATALYST FORSOCIO-ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT ANDPOVERTY REDUCTIONTHAT CUTS ACROSSALMOST EVERY OTHERINDICATOR FOR HUMANDEVELOPMENT. ACCESS TOADEQUATE AND AFFORDABLEHOUSING PREVENTS INJURY,DISEASE AND PREMATUREDEATH; INCREASES HOUSEHOLDAND NATIONAL INCOME; ANDPROVIDES SOCIO-POLITICALSTABILITY.the decline in many Asian countries for severalreasons. These include a lack of resources,inadequate administrative and technicalcapacities, and lack of political will. 110Some countries in Asia have, however, createdparastatal bodies with responsibility for landdevelopment, the largest being Perumnas inIndonesia. Such bodies are established to:• Channel land and housing at affordableprices to low- and middle-incomehouseholds;• Ensure that the land value increasesassociated with infrastructure provision arenot appropriated by private developers; and• Undertake important but risky projectsavoided by the private sector. 111Subsidies are sometimes used to release land forlow- and middle-income groups, but it is verydifficult to ensure accurate targeting. In Iran, landsubsidies amount to three per cent of GDP butmost of the land distributed to both householdsand cooperatives remains undeveloped owing tothe lack of sufficient resources to provide basicservices. 112 The government of Iraq allocatedhuge numbers of subsidised plots to middleincomehouseholds, armed forces personnel andgovernment workers during the 1980s. Many arestill not developed. 1133.1.3 Access to, and servicing of, landfor housingAccess to serviced land for housing is one of themajor problems faced by practically all Asiancities. Several approaches have been tried inseeking to provide an adequate supply of welllocatedserviced land at affordable cost. Theyinclude the following:Land bankingLand banking is used to acquire land for urbandevelopment ahead of need at relatively low cost.It can also be used to guide urban development,contain land speculation, redistribute land tothe poor, and finance infrastructure investments.However, it requires strong administrative andfinancial capacities, which many developingcountry local authorities lack. Experience hasalso shown that most land banks have failed tokeep land prices low and prevent speculation andextensive delays in acquiring and developing theland have tended to exclude poorer households.Although used successfully in Asian countriessuch as Malaysia and Singapore, land bankingis no longer seen as the way forward.Land sharingLand sharing has been used by landownerswanting to move squatter households off theirland and put it to alternative use. Rather thantaking legal action in court, the landowneragrees that the occupants (tenants or squatters)can remain on part of the land, often withimproved and secure accommodation at higherdensities. The owner then develops the mosteconomically attractive part of the land. Thefour basic features of land-sharing projects are:increased density, reconstruction, participation,and cross-subsidies. Land sharing has been usedwith variable success in India, Thailand and thePhilippines. It is not widely used, largely becauseof the many preconditions that must be met.34PART THREE