Entrepreneurial Land Redevelopment Approach: Land Readjustment (edX)

Land readjustment is an alternative land-assembly approach to government compulsory purchase (often referred to as eminent domain) and voluntary market transaction. In the land readjustment process, a public or private agency invites property owners to become stakeholders in a redevelopment project and to contribute their lands to the project as investment capital. In return, each property owner receives a land site of at least equal value in the vicinity of the original site upon project completion. After all properties in the district are assembled, the combined land sites are subdivided to make space for wider roads and other local infrastructure.

The conventional approaches to land assembly are often conflict-ridden. Through this course, practitioners can add another viable option to their toolbox by learning about land readjustment as an alternative approach to urbanization in developing countries.

Land readjustment has been shown to reduce the initial capital requirement for land assembly, discourage holdouts, and minimize massive relocation of existing residents. When applying land readjustment at the right time and in the right place, this approach could mediate a major hindrance of land redevelopment in countries that are facing rapid urbanization.

What you'll learn

- Increase your awareness and knowledge of land readjustment as a tool for facilitating urbanization and land redevelopment in developing countries;

- Provide you with techniques and strategies to design and implement land readjustment projects;

- Expose you to selected international experiences of land readjustment; and

- Facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas between you and other global policymakers, practitioners, and scholars who are interested in adopting land readjustment in their home country.

Course Syllabus

Module 1: Introduction to Land Readjustment

In the first week, we will familiarize ourselves with the concept of land readjustment. We will explore problems associated with rapid urbanization in developing countries and the effectiveness of conventional methods in resolving these issues. Finally, we will present our rationale for arguing for land readjustment as a potential alternative to existing conventional methods.

Module 2: International Experiences with Land Readjustment

In the second week, we will move from the conceptualization of land readjustment to analyses of actual practices of land readjustment in international contexts by examining different examples from developing countries.

Module 3: Policy Goals of Land Readjustment

The third week of the course focuses on the policy goals of land readjustment. We will discuss preconditions required for land readjustment to accomplish these policy goals. More importantly, we will identify which necessary preconditions stated by the conventional wisdom are myths, and which are realities.

Module 4: Designing and Implementing Land Readjustment Projects

The fourth week of the course will present some stylized steps for designing, implementing, monitoring, and scaling up land readjustment projects.

Module 5: Conclusions

The final module of this course will summarize key ideas and provide an opportunity for reflection.