Land Delivery Systems in West African Cities : The Example of Bamako, Mali

Urban and peri-urban land markets in rapidly expanding West African cities operate within and across different coexisting tenure regimes and involve complex procedures to obtain or make land available for housing. Because a structured framework lacks for the analysis of such systems, this book proposes a systemic approach and applies it to Bamako and its surrounding areas. The framework revolves around the description of land delivery channels: starting from the status of tenure when the land is first placed in circulation for residential use, it identifies the processes whereby tenure can be improved, the types of transactions that take place along the way, and interactions between land delivery channels. The analysis of the system shows that land is initially provided through a customary land delivery channel—which predominates in peri-urban areas where land is being transformed from agricultural to residential use—and through a public and para-public channel, which involves the administrative allocation of residential plots to inhabitants and the transfer of land to developers. These two channels feed into the formal private channel which delivers serviced plots with ownership title at much higher prices. Plots in the various channels may be traded successively, with a degree of informality varying according to tenure, legality and registration of transactions. Whereas the development of the formal market is hindered by structural factors, the informal land market provides little tenure security. Targeted towards low and middle-incomes, it also attracts wealthy and well-connected buyers who have access to information and administrative and political power and can more easily formalize tenure. The sustained increase in land prices, numerous conflicts over land, high transaction costs and time-consuming formalization procedures, together with the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, combine to reduce affordability significantly and make access to secure land very difficult for the urban poor. Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- French Acronyms -- Summary -- 1 Introduction -- Land Issues in Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa -- The Example of Bamako, Mali -- Purpose of the Study, Positioning in Relation to Existing Literature, and Organization of the Work -- Notes -- References -- 2 Methodology of the Study -- A Systemic Approach to Land Delivery Channels and Land Markets -- Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches -- Study Area -- Notes -- References -- 3 Land Delivery Channels -- The Customary Land Delivery Channel -- The Public and Parapublic Land Delivery Channel -- The Formal Private Land Delivery Channel -- Annex 3A Laws, Decrees, and Other Texts on Land and Tenure -- Annex 3B Details of Required Procedures and Costs of Formalization from Customary Land to Ownership Title -- Annex 3C Details of Required Procedures and Costs of Formalization from Allocations by the State or Communes to Acquire Individual Ownership Title -- Notes -- References -- 4 The Land Delivery System -- Description of the Land Delivery System -- Legality of Land Allocations, Titling, and Sales -- Land Delivery Channels and Market for Plots for Housing -- Th e Role of Stakeholders in the Land Delivery System -- Th e Conflicts in the Land Delivery System -- Annex 4A Documents Used for Transactions (whether authorized or not) -- Notes -- References -- 5 Results from a Survey of Land Transfers -- Objective, Methodology, and Sample -- Th e Spatial Segmentation of Land Transfers -- Land Tenure Patterns at the Time of the Transfer -- Land Tenure Conversions -- Land Tenure and Land Prices -- Annex 5A Questionnaire -- Notes -- References -- 6 Conclusion -- The Relevance of the Method Adopted -- Unequal Household Access to Land for Housing -- The Results of the Survey of Land Transfers This book proposes a new approach for a systemic and dynamic analysis of urban and peri-urban land markets in West Africa and applies it to Bamako, Mali. Based on a description of 'land delivery' processes, it sheds light on the challenges faced by the urban poor in accessing secure land.