In May 2006, the Urban Land Markets Programme was launched.  Supported by the UK’s Department for International Development, the Urban Land Markets Programme (or ‘Urban LandMark’) is committed to an evidence-based process of discovery and advocacy around making urban land markets work better for (and with) the poor. 

Urban LandMark aims to influence policies and practices in South Africa to improve poor people’s access to well-located urban land by making markets, and land planning and management systems work better, giving effect and meaning to the idea of people having a right to land.

The lack of access by the poor to urban land is emerging as a hotly debated policy issue, not only in South Africa, but also in other emerging countries around the world.  In this context, developing and taking a distinctive ‘making markets work for the poor’ approach is challenging but can make an important contribution to informing and focusing the policy debate. 

The programme focus is based on the axioms that 1) markets are pervasive, and 2) in their current form, land markets are apparently not working well for the urban poor in South Africa. This is evident in the ongoing relegation of the poorest to the furthest spatial and social margins of South African cities. 

Flowing from an ongoing investigation of urban land issues, Urban LandMark intends to develop a position and establish an identity in support of government, the private sector and communities, being positioned not as a new ‘voice’ within the urban land debate, but as a focal point for engagement.

The mode of engagement should create the space in which the many stakeholders can engage in positive discourse, and out of which a better understanding of the current problem and clear directions for action will come.

The programme has the following objectives:
• to establish an information base
• to define what ‘making markets work for the poor’ could mean for urban land, and to develop a distinctive voice for this approach;
• to engage diverse sector players (the State, private sector, civil society) in the process; and
• to promote policy dialogue between the stakeholders.

These objectives would be realised through projects undertaken within the framework of five categories of action:
• research
• information dissemination
• targeted support for key players in government, civil society and the private sector
• professional development
• advocacy and networking

The recently appointed Programme Director (Dr Mark Napier working on full time secondment from the CSIR) will be establishing and managing the Programme.  More information can be found on the programme website: http://www.urbanlandmark.org.za