Link - Land - International Network for Knowledge

Project details

Full project title: Link - Land - International Network for Knowledge

Duration: 2021-2023

Sponsored by:

• Iland Consulting 
• Faculty of Environment and Technology (now known as College of Arts, Technology and Environment); UWE Bristol.

Project team:

• Professor Jessica Lamond
• Visiting Professor Dr Richard Baldwin
• Dr Jim Mason
• Dr Tom Appleby
• Grazyna Wiejak-Roy
• Professor Paul Olomolaiye

Project summary

Land plays a key role in supporting economic, cultural and social development within a country. Human settlement, food production, transport, infrastructure development, industry, trade and resource management all compete for land resources. It is also a source of wealth and power. One’s place of living can define class, culture and control life’s opportunities, hence how we organize and manage our land resources reflects our social and political values. Most developed economies have sophisticated systems in place that allow interests in land resources to be defined, protected, traded.  Yet despite decades of international support for land reform and land improvement in developing countries there are still significant problems. For many, especially in the developing world, subsistence farming is the main source of livelihood and so secure access to land is critical. Many peri-urban areas are expanding without development control resulting in chaotic development, poor infrastructure and unclear land rights. We urgently need better ways of engaging and generating systemic change.

The project will establish Link – Land – International Network for Knowledge as an international hub for research and knowledge exchange across the entire land administration domain of law, policy, planning, registration, organisation and management, gender and social inclusion, valuation, land markets, surveying, IIT/GIS, records management, project management, oversight, evaluation, capacity building, land markets, urban and rural development.

For more information, please visit the LINK website.