Security of tenure, land market and segregation

The session aims to:

• Reinforce the urgency of addressing land and security of tenure in an inclusive and well managed manner in order to achieve the social, economic and environmental functions and prosperity dividends promoted in both the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Provide clear guidance from multi-sector perspectives on how land and security of tenure can help harness the value of land to develop and sustain inclusive urbanization, particularly in relation to the provision of housing, livelihood generation and for the financing other critical development infrastructure.
• Clarify the roles that various sectors and partners must play to achieve the land agenda including what collaborative partnerships are required.
• Outline how the success of any interventions can be monitored and measured.

The New Urban Agenda makes clear that 1) land challenges must be approached considering the economics of urbanization alongside the social, cultural and environmental dimensions, 2) that actions in securing tenure and land must be undertaken with the different stakeholders’ needs, uses and aspirations in mind and 3) that inclusive urban prosperity and sustainable development are more likely when land and tenure security is linked with other key development outcomes – improved economic development and livelihood generation, access to adequate housing and basic services, improved food security, migration, climate change mitigation efforts and peacebuilding.

In other words, essential development infrastructure must be underpinned by a sound and inclusive approach to land and security of tenure. The critical question is how to harness the value of land to sustain inclusive urbanization?

fA successful implementation of the New Urban Agenda – towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - will require an integrated approach based on the engagement of multiple stakeholders including the private sector. It must be driven by member states in collaboration with all key stakeholders such as local authorities, traditional and customary leaders and civil society.

Harnessing and building on the convening power of UN-Habitat through the Global Land Tool Network, the session will explore the practical synergies and complementarities among various actors to successfully leverage the importance of land and tenure security as a contribution to sustainable urbanization.

The session will bring together, national and local governments, private sectors, civil society organizations, donors and the United Nations to deliver concrete recommendations on land and tenure security moving forward with the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. Specific and practical interventions required to deliver inclusive land and tenure security outcomes in the urban context from different stakeholders perspectives, will form the basis of the panellists’ discussions.

Q1: How can the land components of the New Urban Agenda be implemented in 1) an inclusive and collaborative manner and 2) with strong linkages to other themes?

Q2: What are the most effective and possibly new approaches that key stakeholders must adopt and use to harness the value of land to foster and sustain inclusive urbanization?

Q3: What types of partnerships must be strengthened or developed to respond to the land agenda?

Q4: What practical next steps can national and local governments take to immediately kick start or support initiatives?

Q5: How do we measure the success of interventions on land and tenure security?