Are urban land tenure regulations in Namibia the solution or the problem? | Land Portal

Informations sur la ressource

Date of publication: 
décembre 2009
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
nust:10628/360

Land tenure in Namibia is regulated by a variety of Acts, some of which date back to as far as 1937, and some of which are

yet to be approved by Cabinet. This variety of Acts makes it difficult to evaluate the performance of land administration as a

whole, and the appropriateness of coercive instruments with regards to urban land tenure in particular. In this article we

evaluate how urban land tenure regularization practices are conducted in Namibia, and to compare new formal procedures,

designed to address problems of efficiency and efficacy, to older existing procedures, supposedly not efficient or effective.

This evaluation uses a theoretical framework of (Pritchett and Woolcock, 2004) , which deals with public service delivery

and transaction-intensive services. Applying this framework for a comparative analysis of 5 different land subdivision

practices – each relying on a different land-related act - we conclude that the degree of regulation and regularization is

perhaps not so much a solution for urban land tenure problems but perhaps more of a problem in itself.

Auteurs et éditeurs

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

De Vries, Walter
Lewis, Joe

Publisher(s): 

Taylor & Francis Group publishes books for all levels of academic study and professional development, across a wide range of subjects and disciplines.


Taylor & Francis Group publishes quality peer-reviewed journals under the Routledge and Taylor & Francis imprints. The newest part of the group, Cogent OA, offers a purely open access program.


Note from Land Portal:


Fournisseur de données

Namibia University of Science and Technology logo

Known for being a trendsetter in higher education and applied research internationally, the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) aims to become the leading university in Africa. The Department of Land and Property Sciences (DLPS) offers relevant degrees at undergraduate and post-graduate level including master and doctorate degrees. The Department of Land and Property Sciences (DLPS) at NUST together with the Integrated Land Management Institute (ILMI) are playing a leading role in research and outreach in the field of land governance and administration.

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