Plot acquisition for self-build housing
Abstract The process of plot acquisition, development and construction of house is very complex in the private unserviced land market due to lack of information, high dependence on land brokers and inadequate institutional arrangements for land development and plot sales. The case of Bhubaneswar City in Eastern India is used to highlight the issues connected with plot acquisition and house building and to explain the factors required to be strengthened in the overall context of planned development. Specifically the pattern of ownership, process of land subdivision, transaction, transfer, development and final use for house construction are looked at. The study suggests curbing land prices, and intensifying infrastructure and service facilities, and indicates the need for the revision of the existing planning regulations to streamline the control mechanism.
Intra-urban residential mobility and tenants' workplace choices in Kinondoni municipality
Abstract In Tanzania like many developing countries, the private rental housing caters for the housing needs of the majority of low-income households where residential choices of tenants are associated with both risks and opportunities. One of the opportunities is proximity to workplaces which provide a means to save in terms of lower commuting costs and the ease with which domestic obligations can be attended. However, it is not clear whether workplaces are of prime consideration in residential mobility decision of tenants. This paper uses discriminant function analyses to predict tenants' preferences for workplace-residential proximity based on tenants' own attributes, housing and neighbourhood characteristics based on data which were collected in Kinondoni municipality in Dar es Salaam Tanzania in 2014. The results suggest that tenant mobility tend to relocate tenants away from their workplaces. The majority of tenants who are residentially detached from their workplaces tend to relocate towards wards which are located in-between the outskirt and the CBD, while those relocating to peripheral wards end-up working within their ward of residency. This pattern is explained by at least two factors; the first is the incremental nature of housing construction, which pushes tenants closer to areas of their intended housing construction (outskirt wards) and the second is tenure insecurity which motivate early tenant move-out towards outskirt wards so that they can either physically protect their acquired rights or be in a good position to purchase secure plots. Workplace-residential proximity in wards that are relatively closer to the CBD for non-mover tenants is significantly associated with low-income and lower rent which reflects the relatively lower quality housing and environmental amenities in those wards.
Effects of Urbanization on Agricultural Activities
Statistical evidence from three Middle Atlantic states is used to describe the direct and indirect pressures of urbanization on agricultural land and activities. Direct effects are an increase in population and a conversion of farming land to urban uses. Indirect effects involve changes in attitudes about farming, changes in the status of farmers, and land speculation. Data on the effects of idled farmland and comparisons of the agricultural activities of rapidly growing and slowly growing areas illustrate these effects. Modifications of the effects to retain farmland would probably require direct control of land use and could be accomplished through zoning, differential assessment, or public purchase of farming land. 36 references.