Urban land markets

Access to, and the acquisition of, land is a critical first step in the housing value chain. However a number of factors can impact upon access to well-located, serviced land, thus impacting as well on the availability of affordable housing. CAHF’s urban land markets work has explored a number of issues related to land markets, including tenure arrangements, the policy and legislative framework shaping land markets, zoning and land use management, land-based finance, and the role of land in the spatial transformation of urban areas.

A paper series on Integration and Spatial Transformation of Cities in South Africa looks at how to use public property to realise value toward the integration and spatial transformation of cities in South Africa:

• Paper 1: Realising social and economic integration in South Africa’s residential property markets establishes a framework where value realization is defined in economic, social and financial terms.
• Paper 2: Key instruments, approaches and strategies to integrate cities explores six integration strategies: transit orientated development (TOD), land development incentives, inclusionary housing, the use of public property as an instrument for transformation and integration through value realisation, a shift from property management to asset management, and the process of realising value.
• Paper 3: Public property release and development for integration looks at how property portfolios owned by government can be used to achieve functional and integrated cities.
• Paper 4: Case studies from Cape Town, eThekwini, and Johannesburg uses the examples to evaluate key factors for success and provide a general set of guidelines on required processes, systems and capacities to ensure implementation and the achievement of intended outcomes.
• Epilogue Paper: The current status of the debate and policy implementation offers a brief review of current debates, policies, strategies and legislation adopted by government to promote spatial transformation and sustainable human settlements, and considers changes and shifts that have occurred over the recent period paying particular attention to why, despite the plethora of policies, strategies and legislation, South African cities continue to reflect high levels of spatial segregation and urban dysfunction.

In addition, we have recently undertaken a comprehensive literature review of research documents, articles, guidelines, resources, as well as policy and legislation, related to urban land issues in South Africa. Covering nearly 450 resources, the survey addresses themes of: use value and best-use value; urban and rural interdependence; people-centred approaches; equitable access to property markets; spatial transformation; residential and economic informality; and climate resilience and biodiversity conservation.

The bibliography is available as an online dashboard to enable searches for particular resources by topic and author.